Not alone
by Soupilicious
Summary: Basically, the world is ending and Artemis, the faries, and the demigods have to defend Camp Half-Blood and defeat Gaea. First few chapters suck. It gets better as it goes... Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

"Artemis, will you hand me a screwdriver? I know you have one." Holly's helmet had gotten stuck - again - and she had to ply it off. She could see nothing but the faint outline of the Mud Boy's head, leaning over a keyboard, typing furiously. Screens were lit up about the room, depicting carnage from a freak storm in New York.

Holly sighed in exasperation. "Artemis-"

"Here, Holly." Butler cupped her head in one meaty hand and pulled a screwdriver from Artemis' desk drawer. He placed it in the sides near her chin and yanked, causing Holly's head to jerk over to one side, and, quite by accident, make a spark of blue magic jump from her fingertips. Butler pulled the helmet apart and handed both pieces to her. "Never trust Artemis to do anything when he's focused. He won't even notice you."

"Does he notice I'm even here?" Holly said, scratching her head. She combed her hair through with her gloved hands and sat down on the stool Butler offered to her.

"No."

"What is he doing? Looking at a bunch of storm report? When has Artemis ever cared about a storm?" She shook her head and looked over the Mud Boy's shoulder. "Hey Artemis." She snapped her fingers beside his ear. After five seconds of nothing, she punched him on the shoulder. Hard.

"Ow! Captain Short!" Artemis pulled himself off of the ground and rubbed his shoulder. "What is the meaning of this? Might you have instead asked me to acknowledge you instead of throwing your fist at me?" He shook his head in disgust and got back into the chair. "Butler, an ice pack, please." Butler nodded his head and hurried out of the room, eager to get out of Artemis' way.

"So, Artemis, explain yourself. I don't like to be ignored." Artemis smoothed out his suit and straightened his tie, picking off invisible pieces of lint and fixing his hair back into place.

"Very well, Holly, you may have your answer." He pointed to the screen on the right wall. "Watch closely."

A news reporter appeared on the screen. He started to talk, but Artemis fast-forwarded the footage, scene after scene playing after one another, until he came to a picture of the Empire State Building from a birds-eye view.

"Watch here."

He played it, and the video zoomed in until Holly saw a man with graying hair pick up a stick and thrust it into the air, like a sword.

"And here."

She saw a woman close by rummage through a police officer's car and pull an umbrella out, pushing it out and in like she was cranking a gun, and then a loud _pop _afterward.

"Artemis, I don't see what's so special about a man stabbing the air with a stick, and a woman shooting a gun. Would you please explain?"

He didn't seem to notice her, only rewinding the video. "Watch this time."

The video was in slow motion, only going at one frame per second. Holly waited for a full minute just to see the face of the gray haired man again. This time, though, the stick he was holding flickered and changed into what looked like a sword. Monsters popped into view, hundreds of them fighting, and even more coming out of the ground. The man with the sword stabbed a green-scaled woman in the gut, and she slowly disintegrated.

"Artemis! Did you just see that? How is that possible? One minute there was nothing and the next-"

"Yes Holly, I know. Now watch the woman."

The woman who had the umbrella was no longer holding it, but instead had a gun. This time, the woman whirled around and shot a giant twenty feet backward, impaling it on a different sword a boy was holding.

"Artemis, are these different videos? They can't be the same. There's no way all those monsters could appear out of nowhere and just...attack in the middle of the city! I mean, people would notice. Wouldn't they?"

"Holly, don't you think people would notice thousands of fairies, dwarves, and goblins living underground? Ten thousand years, and no one has ever noticed. Don't you think that a little odd?"

"Except for you. You noticed."

"Yes, but that was because I was searching. And I found my answer." He gestured to Holly. "And now I search again. And I shall find my answer." He glanced back up at the image of the giant skewered on the boy's sword.

"What was that Artemis? That certainly wasn't a troll." Artemis made no movement, except for the occasional click of a mouse and play of his fingers over the keyboard. "If those...monsters were all there in the first place, then wouldn't they be hidden by magic? Or vibrating at a supernatural speed?" She glanced back at the Mud Boy. "Artemis, are you even listening to me?"

"Here, look at this." He showed her a picture of the Empire State Building again, except this time it was glowing blue. "I think that might be a little odd, don't you?"

The building glowed with bright intensity, like a flare in the middle of the night sky. Holly heard car horns and the usual sounds of New York in the background. "This isn't a still picture?"

"Holly, that video I showed you earlier was from a camera from above. One of my satellites took it. I enhanced the image to show it to you."

"And why didn't you just look into a nearby camera from one of the many buildings? I'm sure you could easily get into a security camera."

"There were none." Holly's eyebrows scrunched together as she turned to look into Artemis' face. "All of the cameras in Manhattan were shut off. So were all the cars. And the people."

Astonishment crossed Holly's face. "All the people? You mean they died, or what?"

"I mean they were turned off. They fell asleep. Amazingly, though, no one crashed."

"And people wouldn't notice this because..."

"Time was slowed down in a ten mile radius; weaker on the outside and stronger on the inside."

"Stop pulling my leg. Time didn't slow down. That's impossible."

"It is not any different than the fairies time-stop methods."

"Yeah, but Manhattan? That's a whole island! Did a fairy do this?"

"No, Captain Short. I'm afraid faries didn't do this."

"But-"

"Have you ever stopped to think about history in particular? Not just the fairies' history, but mankind's history as well." He took the loop of the Empire State Building's blue light off the screen and turned so he could fully see her.

"What are you trying to say, Artemis?"

"I'm saying not just that fairies are real, but many other mythological creatures as well."

Before Holly could say anything, Butler walked into the room with an ice pack and a bottle of cream. "I brought some medicine as well, Artemis. Do you have need of it?"

"No, just the pack is fine." Butler handed the pack over, along with a handtowel that Artemis used to secure the ice pack in place. "Thank you. That will be all, Butler." Butler nodded and went back to his usual place by the door.

"You were saying, Artemis?" Holly scowled at him and held up her fist. "I'm not afraid to punch you twice, you know."

To her surprise, Artemis laughed. "No, Holly, you're not. Or a fourth or fifth time, either."

Holly's face turned crimson and her scowl deepened. "Just tell me what you know. All of it. Don't hide anything like you usually do."

"Like I usually do?" Artemis asked innocently.

"All of it!"

He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I shall do what you say. But keep this to yourself. Don't even let Foaly know."

"Too bad, because this whole outfit is bugged, not to mention that the helmet is a bouncing camera." She glanced at the helmet that was lying in two pieces on the floor. "Although I think that it's bouncing days are over, now that Butler broke it."

"I made sure that your 'outfit' was...debugged, and as for your helmet," he gestured to Butler, who picked it up and threw it out the door, securing the lock. "You needn't worry about it."

"Hey, that's the new design Foaly came out with! I'm the first fairy he tried it out on!" Holly cried indignantly. "Foaly will be mad."

"Forget Foaly for right now. I'm about to tell you the answer to one of mankind's greatest mysteries."

"And what might that be, Artemis?"

"We are not alone."


	2. Chapter 2

Percy swung his sword like a baseball bat, nearly getting hit by the advancing skeleton. A group of dracaenae swung nets at him and poked javelins at his rib cage. He jumped over the net and stabbed them in the throat, disintegrating them on impact. He continued on, taking out the skeleton and any other monster in his path.

"Percy! Over here!" Leo was waving at him frantically, dodging a group of cyclopes. "I can't kill them with fire!"

"Use a hammer or something! I'll be there in a sec..." He leaped over a Laistrygonian and sent his sword through the back of its calves, a burst of ichor flowing from the wound. He finished the giant off with a stab to the chest and sprinted to Leo.

Leo was trying to avoid the cyclopes, but it didn't seem like it was working. He had a hammer out, the head of the weapon burning with white-hot flames. "Keep them at bay while I get this working!"

"Get _what _working?"

"Just...do your thing! Stab them! Kill them! I need room!" Leo yelled.

Percy sized the cyclopes up. There were six of them. The biggest was twenty feet tall; the smallest only six foot forty-eight. He could take them.

"Yaggh!" Percy yelled, charging at the smallest. He swiped at the cyclops while

avoiding its meaty fist. He slashed downward with Riptide, cutting the cyclops' loincloth off. It fell down around his ankles, and the cyclops bellowed in rage.

"Puny half-blood! I'll eat you!" He charged at Percy, lifting his mighty fists to smash him. Percy waited until the cyclops was right in front of him, then quickly slashed off its right hand and stabbed at its belly. The cyclops let out a strangled cry and disintegrated into dust.

The five other cyclops were busy fighting Annabeth and Piper; Piper with her dagger and Annabeth with hers. Annabeth fought the bigger of the five, dodging attacks he made while Piper told him to do the hokey pokey.

"You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out, you do the hokey pokey and you...ahh!" A medium sized cyclops - it looked like a girl one - became annoyed and picked up her club, waving it in the air like a drumstick. She yelled something that sounded like "Blah!" and slammed it at Piper.

Annabeth caught the monster just in time, though, and jumped at it, knocking the cyclops over. "Percy! Over here!" she said without looking up. "Use the water!"

"What water?" he yelled back. "I don't feel any!"

"There's a well about fifty yards that way!" She stabbed the monster and it disintegrated. She pointed with her dagger at a circular pile of stones where Frank was holding back a giant. "Can you get to it?"

"Yeah. Hold on." He closed his eyes and felt the familiar tug in his gut. A moment later, he heard an enormous roar, like the sound of a tsunami coming at you at the speed of sound. Water whipped past his body and collided with the cyclops, along with the other monsters around him. He raised his hand with Riptide and stabbed toward the sky, bringing it down on the ground and stabbing through the only patch of dry ground in the area.

Along with him, a burst of water flew up and resembled his arms and his sword, only fifty times bigger. And, at his command, the water did the same as he was doing, washing out every monster in the area and killing all of them, leaving only the biggest behind.

Percy had spared the rest of the team, leaving Piper, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Leo and Annabeth as dry as a twig in a summer afternoon. The effort had caused him to be lightheaded, and he sat down on the moist ground with a plop.

Jason seized the opportunity to do an incredible feat equal to his own. "Go!" he yelled. "Get up that hill!" Annabeth looked toward him and recognition washed over her.

Her face pale, Annabeth ran toward Percy and dragged him up. "Let's go! We have no time!" She half carried him to the mountain until Frank ran up and took Percy in his arms and carried him bridal style, sprinting up the small mountain like a mountain goat being chased by a leopard.

Piper yanked Leo up and pointed at the hill. "Do what Jason says! Run!" Leo scrambled to get his things together and ran after Frank, shoving things in his tool belt as fast as he could.

Hazel caught up to Piper. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later. Let's go!"

Lightning crackled in the clear sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Purple clouds formed up over the once deserted land and filled the air with an electric energy. Of the remaining monsters, there were about two hundred; they had started with five hundred.

Jason lifted up his sword and yelled a mighty war cry, then pointed at the water with his sword and let loose. A fierce bolt of lightning shot toward the water. The miniature sea that was born from the well engulfed the bolt, and the water rippled with energy. All at once, the monsters standing in the water were shocked with electricity and disintegrated on the spot. Leo saw a sphinx's hair prick up on end, and his own hair on his arms stood out straight. He watched the lion-woman stop and fall to the ground, convulsing, and turn into a pile of golden dust, washed away by the water Percy had brought forth.

All of the monsters had died, except for one, whom Frank shot with an arrow from his quiver. Once the water calmed down, Jason flew over to where they were crouching. "All gone," he panted, and wiped his brow. He looked about the same as Percy; pale and oblivious to his surroundings. He crouched on the ground where he was standing and squeezed his eyes shut. Piper went over to him and held his head in her arms, mimicking Annabeth's movements with Percy.

After a while, Frank quietly said "Good job, everybody. Especially you two." He nodded at Percy and Jason, who didn't even notice him. "We just need to get back to Chiron and the other campers by tomorrow."

Leo nodded and pulled out a coin. "I'll call him." He wandered over to the edge of the make-shift lake, where there was still a bit of sun and a fine spray of mist.

Hazel looked around, gazing at what Percy and Jason destroyed. "Wow." The place they had been fighting in had once been a barren desert, but now it was a flowing lake. "Who knew they even had deserts in Ireland? I thought it was all green and lush."

Piper looked up from where Jason was silently snoring on her lap. "Or a well for that matter. We're in the middle of nowhere, and there's a well smack in the center of a desert. Doesn't that seem a little bit...off?"

"It must have been an old well." Hazel said.

"Then how was Percy able to get so much water from it? Wouldn't at least be partly dry?"

Troubled, Hazel looked down at her bloodied hands, where she had cracked the ribs of a skeleton. "I don't know. None of this makes an sense. Why would five hundred monsters want to randomly attack us in the middle of the desert. I mean, we're some really powerful demigods," she looked over at Jason and Percy, who was also snoring. "But this doesn't seem right. It feel too...perfect. She glanced up at Piper's face, who, to her surprise, nodded her head.

"It does seem too perfect. Why would there be a well full of water for Percy to use? And how come the monsters weren't fighting as hard as they should? They were fighting pretty hard, yes, but I could tell they weren't giving it all they had. They were holding back." Her last words was not a question, but a statement. It was obvious enough to all of them that they had won only because of luck and the monsters lack of planning.

"Okay." Leo said as he walked over. "I contacted Chiron and told him what happened. He said he can't send the Argo II over, but we should board a plane tomorrow afternoon. He said he'll manage to get us tickets and money for food at the airport." Leo sat down near Frank and closed his eyes. "We'll need to make a camp for the night. We'll see about traveling halfway across Ireland tomorrow." He closed his eyes and held his head in his hands. "Not many airports in this country, if you ask me."

Annabeth jerked her head up. "You didn't tell him that we were this far away from an airport?"

Leo opened one eye and squinted at her. "I also didn't tell him about the monsters raiding us of our supplies last night. Or that we're in the desert."

With surprising calmness, Annabeth asked him, "What did you tell him then?"

Leo opened his other eye. "I told him that our mission failed because we got attacked by a few monsters. What would you have told him?" He looked straight into her dark gray eyes. Ever since Calypso's island, he had begun to feel calmer and calmer.

Annabeth sighed. "I guess I would have done the same."

Piper stood up. "Come on. Let's make camp and start a fire. Leo, you cook food from your...tool belt." She looked down at it with a questioning look on her face. "You can do that, right?"

Leo grinned and stood up with her. "That I can, Piper." he said, and started a fire with his hands.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Third chapter. Yay! I'm so happy. So ecstatic. Thanks for the reviews; feel free to comment at any time. Flames, please; all criticism is welcomed, as I dearly need it. I also fixed mistakes in Chapter 1.**

Artemis shifted through his papers, reading and re-reading them over again, even though he had already memorized them. He kept on coming back to the same page. He didn't notice anything new, but he kept his eyes on the same spot, letting it all sink in. This was from that very same night, in the very same country he was in. He smiled to himself, a luxury he hardly ever allowed. Tomorrow. All of his questions would be answered tomorrow. Not that he had many.

Artemis closed his eyes and savored the feeling of the leather seat beneath him and the slight hum of the Lear jet. He heard Holly walk up to his row-for who else could it be?-and sit down beside him.

"Artemis, we need to talk." He kept his eyes closed. He could sense the fairy scowling at him when he didn't move."You never fully explained this to me. How are gods real? How are there still warriors around the world who continue to fight as if from the olden ages? And why are you suddenly interested in uncovering something new? Something...different. You're a different boy, Artemis, but this-"

"Holly," Artemis interrupted, "could you explain to me why fairies are real? Or why you exist? No, I believe you couldn't." Holly opened her mouth, but then quickly shut it, untangling Artemis' words like a puzzle. "Yes, like every other race, you come from who-knows-where, created from who-knows-what; a very old race, if not the oldest. But have you ever stopped to consider if you were the only old ones to survive?"

Holly looked confusedly at him. "Greeks aren't that old. Maybe only about four or five generations of fairies, but the ancients died not too long ago." She glanced at him to confirm her answer.

"They are not dead, Captain. They are still fully thriving."

Exasperated, Holly let out a breath she had been holding in. "You still haven't answered my questions. How are the Greek gods real?"

"Captain, think about it. Do you think that the Greeks would be so ignorant as to believe something they made up? And worship them? And sacrifice to them?"

"No." Holly said in a quiet voice.

"Yes, actually. They were ignorant. Not of the fact that there were beings higher than them that had powers over nature, but the fact that they worshiped them. And sacrificed to them. And the beings were angry for this. And Greece fell to Rome. Much the same with Egypt." A grim smile lifted the corners of his lips, and he looked back down at his papers. "Rome flourished, though, but was destroyed throughout time from barbarians and attackers."

Holly was silent for a while. She picked at the finger of her glove; the finger that had been cut off and restored by magic, with help from Artemis so many years ago. Finally, she looked up at Artemis' face, trying to see if he was telling the truth, or if this was one of his elaborate lies that he made to manipulate others. She couldn't find anything that would be against what he was saying, though. "So you're saying, Artemis, that not only Greek gods are real, but also Roman?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. He had expected her to catch on, but sometimes fairies overlooked important details of a conversation. He decided that she was partly scared-as she should be-of all of this new information he was giving her. It was a lot to take in.

"Yes. But let's stick to the Greeks for right now. We'll get to the Romans later." He shuffled through his papers once more until he had found what he was looking for. "They're called half-bloods; also demigods."

"The warriors?"

"Yes, the warriors. They train at what they call a 'camp'. They go there every summer to learn fighting and weapon making and crafts. Some of them even stay there the full year. They study Greek and fight monsters. They train. They fight. They train some more. They learn to protect themselves. They go on quests." At this point he looked up from his papers to see if Holly was paying attention.

She crossed her arms, her feet dangling above the floor of the Lear jet. "Quests? What do you mean by that?" She stared down at the faraway floor, and then pulled her legs up underneath her.

"They've done more than anyone will ever notice. They don't even recognize how much they've done." He cleared his throat. "If something goes awry in the world, they fix it. Most of the time the cause of a problem is a monster or a Titan or a minor god."

"Titan? Minor god? How you haven't told me much, Artemis. Not as much as I would like to know." She punched him in the shoulder the second time that day, and he winced, rubbing his sore arm.

"Would you please refrain from hitting me while I try to explain the logics of Greek- Holly, no!" She yanked the papers out of his hand and raced down the aisle, running to the bathroom at the back of the plane. She slammed the door shut and locked it, sitting on the edge of the counter with her feet against the door.

Holly flipped through the papers with vigor. What was the Mud Boy hiding from her? He always was, even though he had promised her he wouldn't. She stopped at a picture of Manhattan. Cars were parked on the side of the road, and people were snoring on the sidewalks. A giant flying pig soared through the air with a statue clinging to its back, crawling up the side of the giant animal. A black winged horse flew beside it with a boy on its back, holding a sword out to his side and preparing to jump.

The image was so weird that Holly had to look over it again. And then again. She tried to let it sink in. This was real. This was really happening.

"Holly, open up!" Artemis banged on the door, causing it to shake underneath her feet. He tried to twist the handle, but to no avail. "Give me back those papers, Holly!" His muffled voice sounded strained, like he was trying to preserve his pride.

Holly rolled her eyes and jumped off the counter, repositioning herself on the toilet seat. She continued to look at the pictures, not stopping to read the Mud Boy's handwriting or the articles it was attached to. She saw a hurricane with the same boy in the middle, holding off a giant burning man clad in armor. She saw one picture of grass in Central Park, and then the next with a giant tree standing in the same patch. She saw another boy playing reed pipes, but when she looked closer she saw that he was no ordinary man, but half sheep from the waist down. Holly tried to look at as many of the pictures as she could, studying each one carefully.

"Holly, I'm coming in!" Artemis yelled through the door.

"I'm using the restroom."

"Five."

"There's no way a puny boy like you could break down a thick plastic door like this!" She rapped on the same plastic.

"Four."

"It's been a really long flight! I have to go!"

"Three."

"Artemis-"

"Two."

_There's no way_, Holly thought. She quickly folded the papers and shoved them into her jumpsuit

"One."

Instead of the door flying off its hinges as it would have if he had kicked it in, the lock clicked and the door slowly creaked open.

Artemis entered backward and asked, "Are you presentable?"

Holly gave the biggest laugh of amazement she had in decades. She hopped on the counter and crouched like a bird while waiting for him to turn around. "I should have known! You wouldn't ever have been able to bust down a door. Ha!"

Artemis cocked his head at her. "May I have my papers back, please, Captain Short?"

"No." she said, and leaped over Artemis' head and out of the bathroom.

"Holly!" he yelled, and sprinted as modestly as he could from the bathroom. Holly ran up the aisle, cackling gleefully.

The fairy glanced back over her shoulder. Artemis was struggling to keep up, nearly tripping over every chair to get his papers back. Holly gave one more evil chuckle and slipped into the pilot's part of the plane, locking the door behind her. She slipped to the floor, doubled over laughing, with her back to the door.

"Ahem."

Holly turned to Butler, still chortling, her face red from the exertion. "Hello Butler! Care to let me use the intercom?"

Butler looked her up and down and his eyes registered on the papers she was still clutching. The corner of his mouth lifted up as he formed a small half-smile. "Sure thing, Holly." He helped her up into the copilot's seat and pointed at the microphone. "Scream your heart out at him." He winked at her and turned to face the front of the jet, the smile that he never wore still apparent on his face.

Holly switched on the microphone and held down the button. "Artemis, if you want these papers this badly, there must be something important in them." She paused, waiting for him to catch her words. "I'll tear these papers to shreds unless you do one thing for me. One simple thing that you have probably never done before in your whole life." She paused again. "I want you to tell me the truth, Artemis. The whole truth. And don't leave a single detail out. Come to the door when you're ready to oblige." She let go of the button and switched the system off.

Artemis gave himself a small, grim smile. The only reason he had chased after Holly was because he didn't want her to read the information contained within the papers; he had not intended her to use it as leverage against him. He also knew that Holly must know that he wouldn't put all of the answers about this subject on something as fragile as paper; no, she would know that he had memorized everything, word for word. She could throw it away if she wanted to. He didn't care. But after all these years, Holly had gained his trust, and he hers. He had told Butler everything he had wanted him to know, but Holly always wanted to know more. He decided then that she deserved to know as much as he did, and that he would tell her everything; if not for the reason to amuse her.

Artemis sighed and knocked lightly on the door. "Holly, be reasonable-"

"I am. You either agree to my terms, or you don't. Your choice."

After a small pause from Artemis' side of the door, she heard him say, "Ok. I'll do it. I'll tell you everything I know about the Greeks."

"And the Romans?"

"And the Romans."

"You also said something about the Egyptians...Hmm?"

Artemis feigned surprise. "What Egyptians? I said nothing about Egyptians, only that they fell to Rome."

Holly waited a few moments, then said, "Ok. But you have to promise to tell me every single detail that you might have managed to scrap up into that enormous brain of yours. Promise me."

"I promise."

Holly walked over to the door, then turned around. "Thanks, Butler, for the intercom. I've never operated one before."

"My pleasure."

She creaked open the door. Artemis stood there, waiting impatiently. "May I have my papers back, Captain?"

Holly eyed him suspiciously, then handed over the papers. He gladly took it, and started to walk back toward his seat. "Ah, Artemis." He swiveled around to face her, his neck craning down so he could see her face; her eyes were level with his waist. "My seat. Your seats are always cold."

He squinted at her, then turned around and continued walking, stopping at his seat to pick up his briefcase from the trunk above his head. He then went to where she was sitting earlier and plopped himself next to the window, opening his case up. Holly sat on the seat directly beside him and waited for him to get his things in order.

"So, Mud Boy, where shall we start?"

He started typing away on his open laptop, his fingers a blur of motion. Fast as she was, she never could understand how Artemis could reach such speeds on a keyboard, especially the old ones that the Mud Men used. Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, he pulled up a screen of seven teenagers, all holding weapons and fighting monsters twice their size and a hundred times their quantity.

"Hey," Holly said, recognizing one of them, "that's the kid who was trying to catch that pig!"

Artemis looked at her over the rim of his computer. "His name is Percy. Percy Jackson. And that is his companions, fighting with him."

"And what are they fighting?"

"Monsters, I would believe."

Over the next few hours, Artemis taught her everything he knew about half-bloods, monsters, and gods, not stopping until Holly's eyes rolled into the back of her head and her eyes shut, soft little snores echoing off the jet's interior.

Artemis continued to research for the next hour, then he put his laptop away, careful to not wake Holly. He stood partly up to leave, but then thought better of it, because Holly was a cranky waker when woken from her slumber.

Artemis sighed and stayed where he was in the window seat, the dark sky the only thing visible out of the windows. He quickly fell asleep, too, and his head lolled against the window.

Artemis woke with a start as he heard Butler's voice crackle out of the speakers. "Artemis, we're landing in ten. Get ready to meet New York."

Artemis quietly smiled to himself, suddenly feeling a bit happy. He checked that his briefcase he had brought over was secure, then shook Holly's shoulder.

"Holly, wake up. We're nearly there."

"Wha...Oh." She stretched and punched him on the arm. She grinned and hopped up. "Ah, what time is it?"

"5:04."

"Well, in that case..." she said, and punched him a second time.

Artemis rubbed his shoulder, wincing in pain. "For what reason do you punch me, Holly?" He cracked his neck from side to side, an annoying crick in it.

"I do it to relieve myself, Artemis, as you well know."

"The bathroom is in the back."

Holly chuckled and got up, veering to the back of the jet. "You're still cold."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Longest chapter I have ever written! This took me forever to write, but I found it was easier for me to write longer chapters than shorter ones. Now, read!**

Percy woke with a sudden jolt of energy. He reached for his pocket, where he kept Riptide. The he realized where he was and relaxed. The airplane. They were almost home.

Percy looked over to his right, where Annabeth was slumped in her chair, her head lolling against his shoulder. Chiron couldn't find any planes for them that were larger than the one they were in: a two-seater with only two rows and unsalted peanuts. Leo had objected at first, but he soon realized that he could produce his own salt from his tool belt, though he had to grind it down because it was as large as gravel.

The only reason Percy was alive right then was because of Jason. If not for his protection from the strong winds and storms, Percy would have surely been knocked out of the sky by one of Zeus' lightning bolts.

He looked over to the seats opposite him. Leo was fiddling with something, leaning on his right shoulder to keep his distance from the drooling man beside him. He knew that Jason and Piper had managed to get their own seats beside each other up front, but only with help from the Mist from Hazel were they able to secure the seats from the vacationing family that threatened to bring the plane down.

There had been one less seat on the plane than they had hoped for. They were also the last ones onboard, so they new one of them would have to stay behind. They had all looked at each other for an idea, but then the attendant had ushered them forward Frank got left behind. Only later when Annabeth had got up to go to the restroom did she learn that he indeed did manage to get on, though it was a bit cramped for him, she told Percy. Frank had turned into a lizard and slipped into Hazel's pocket, and he had remained like that ever since.

This was their third flight, and also their last one. With their meager amount of money Chiron had managed to conjure up, they weren't able to get a jet, so they instead opted for the smaller planes. It was their only choice, either that or live in Ireland for the next week, which Percy shuddered to think about; the amount of monsters in that country was unnatural.

"Attention, passengers. We will be landing shortly. Please buckle your seatbelts and wait for landing." The light above Percy's head blinked on, and he sat up straight. He buckled his seatbelt, along with Annabeth's, and lightly tapped her on the arm. She stirred and blinked slowly, squinting from the light.

"Wake up, Annabeth. We're about to land." Annabeth glanced out the window and nodded, her arms crossed around her chest.

"It's about time." she said.

"Don't jinx us."

Getting out of the desert had been easy. Frank had turned into a dragon and they climbed on his back, grumbling all the way. He snorted once, then took off, never stopping until they reached the edges of he nearest city, at which point they dismounted and set off toward the airport. The first two rides they had had mostly to themselves, but the third was more cramped. They kept their eyes peeled for monsters, but strangely enough, they found none.

Percy heard the wheels of the airplane move out from under itself, as if it were a bird getting ready to land, pulling out its wings and sticking out its feet. There was a rumble, and the plane rolled down the landing strip, slowing to a stop and continuing to drive to the end of the runway.

Percy and the rest of the gang waited until they were the last ones onboard until they unbuckled and got up. They stretched their limbs and popped their necks and cracked their backs. Jason yawned and touched his fingertips to the ceiling. Hazel dug around in her pocket and pulled out a blue lizard speckled with red dots, fast asleep.

"Is he alive?" Piper asked. She peered over at the lizard and poked it, waking it up and making it snip at her fingers. Hazel placed the lizard on the floor, and it transformed into Frank, who promptly cracked every joint in his body, reminding Percy of an old man.

"Yeah, I'm alive, Piper. Just don't ever let me do that again. Not that I'm complaining about being in your pocket," Hazel blushed. "But that it's cramped. So don't any of you complain about being stiff; you haven't felt anything yet." He turned around to face the exit. "Now let's move. I'm ready to get back to somewhere safe."

"And food." Leo said.

"And food." Frank repeated.

Ever since the attack in the House of Hades, when Frank had summoned hundreds of dead warriors and became praetor, Frank had become more of a leader. He held the title with respect, for it was the highest anyone could achieve within the Roman army. The others gave him their respect, too, which made him feel more responsible for them. If anything, Frank was now the closest they had to a leader, besides Percy, who was also praetor.

They lead themselves out of the plane and through the attachable hallway and to the other side. They walked outside of the airport building, for they didn't even have bags with them. There they stopped, leaning on the wall and glancing around them, unsure of what to do next.

"Now what?" Jason asked. "We don't have money for a cab."

"We could fly." Leo suggested.

Frank glared at him. "I'm not flying again. Not after being cramped for that long."

"Then what other choice do we have? I mean, we risked everything going to Ireland and back, and even more when we put Percy on a plane." He glanced at Percy. "No offense, man, but the gods don't seem to like you."

"Yeah." he said. "I know."

"I could call for Arion." Hazel said. "Then he could ferry us to Manhattan. Or...no, that couldn't work." Her eyes downcast, Hazel slid down the side of the wall and put her head in her hands.

They all took turns sliding down both walls until they were face to face with one another. Finally, Piper said, "Jason, do you think you could fly us all the way there..." She trailed off as he looked up at her.

"It would require too much energy, and I already used enough what with providing that massive lightning strike yesterday and protecting Percy from Zeus."

They all began to think, then, taking turns at providing ideas. Some were clever but unreasonable, while others where just plain desperate.

"we could offer sacrifices to Apollo..."

"Hera still owes us one..."

"we could make Leo build a helicopter..."

"...and maybe he would take us in his chariot..."

After much consideration, though, they all decided that they were stuck. Stuck and unable to do anything about it. They had no drachmas, and even if they did, the Gray Sisters didn't come this far out in New York, and anyways there wasn't enough room for them. They couldn't contact Chiron, either; partly because they couldn't remember the Camp's number, and partly because they were too afraid to use a phone, for fear of attracting monsters.

After ten minutes of debating the subject, they decided they would make a collect call through Iris-messaging, and hope to contact Chiron that way. They made a rainbow in a nearby water fountain, and they asked for the centaur Chiron.

To their delight, the Iris-message worked. An image of the man-horse appeared, sitting at the ping-pong table in his wheelchair form. He was staring down at a leaf, reading intently, until Annabeth cleared her throat. He looked up, and a broad smiled cracked his face.

"Annabeth! Are you okay? Were you attacked by any monsters along the way?" He saw Annabeth's downcast expression, and his mood darkened. "Oh. I take it you're at the airport, though?"

"To put it blunt, Chiron," Annabeth said, "we're tired, hungry, and we're stuck at an airport with no provisions or transport whatsoever. Could you send us help, or at least some money?"

He pondered the question for a moment, then turned the leaf over and slid it away from himself. "Would you tell me how you ended up in this predicament?" He looked toward Percy as he said this. "I would like to know how this series of events has occurred."

Percy nodded his head and stepped forward. "As you wish, Chiron." he said solemnly. He recounted how they had arrived there and how the money Chiron had sent hadn't been enough for a jet, and how they had taken the three planes to get refrained, though, from telling him about their ride on Frank, for he did not want to unsettle the old centaur by telling him how far off course they were. When he finished, he nodded his head again and looked toward the ground, hoping that Chiron would be able to provide the necessary funding, if not transportation.

Chiron kept his eyes downcast, too. For a minute he didn't say anything, and when he did his gaze was grim; at seemed almost to Percy as if he were wincing. "I cannot provide anything for you today. We are running out of supplies quickly, and our food and money is low. However, we can send you provisions tomorrow, as well as transportation."

Leo glared at a stone, then lifted his head and jutted out his chin. "And what are we supposed to do until then? Eat our weapons?"

Chiron sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. "I cannot promise you anything today, Leo, but everything will be settled tomorrow. Just...find a place to rest and maybe scrounge up some food. In the morning I shall have money delivered to the Camp's bank account, which is currently empty. I'll tell you everything tomorrow. Sometimes even the greatest of heroes have to wait something out." And with that, he gave a short, crisp nod of his head and severed the connection, leaving them standing in the square with not an idea in their heads.

All that could be hear was the trickling of the water fountain and birds chirping in the distance. A car drove out of the parking building and flew down the road past a red light.

No one knew what to say. They had been from one country to another in one day, three planes, and zero comfort space. They had risked their lives expecting to come home to a feast and a week's worth of rest, not to be told that they had almost, just barely, missed the mark on the bulls-eye.

Finally, Leo stomped his foot in anger. "What now! Stay at the airport and hope not to starve to death? Gee Chiron, thanks. I couldn't have thought of a better plan: stay here and wait while you're living at a strawberry farm!" Leo sank to the ground and put his head in his hands. "I'm staying right here until tomorrow. Then I'm going to kick some centaur butt when we get back home." He wiped his hands on his pants and leaned back with his feet spread before him.

Silence enveloped them again, the Piper said, "Get up, Leo. We're going inside. Half of us can stay watch over the others while they rest, and I'll look for food. I'm sure I can find some with all of the vendors around." She didn't use charmspeak in her words, only turned around and walked away. After a moment, Jason followed after her, shuffling his feet with his hands in his pockets.

Percy looked at Annabeth, and she nodded her head. "She's right. We should go inside. It's getting dark out, and like you said, Leo, the only thing we have to eat is our weapons." She picked herself up off the side of the fountain and brushed her pants off. "Let's go, Percy." she said, and tugged on his arm.

Only Frank, Leo, and Hazel remained. Finally, without a word, Frank trudged after them and left Hazel and Leo alone.

Hazel looked to Leo and stuck out her arm. He allowed her to help him up, and he brushed off his pants as well. "So, are you going inside?" asked Hazel.

After a moment, Leo nodded his head and said "Yes. It's safer in there. Plus there's more food." He started after Frank, who was already opening the door to the building. Behind his back, Hazel hid a small smile and headed after Leo.

After freshening up some in the bathrooms, Percy came out feeling refreshed, not as tired as he had been earlier. The water had helped a bit-he haven nearly taken a shower in the sink-but he still couldn't help the small growl in the pit of his stomach, which he knew would grow larger and louder, until it reached an all-out roar.

Percy waited another five minutes on a bench for Annabeth and Piper to come out. Jason had opted to rest with the others while they got food for them. Piper had suggested her idea to him about the food problem, and he had waved his hand at her, saying, "Nothing is more valuable than food in a demigod's stomach, no matter how you get it." Frank had heartily agreed, and Piper nodded her head and left, feeling almost selfish for her actions she would commit. She kept on having to remind herself that her actions were not selfish, though, and that without food, they would all die and Gaea would rule and the Earth would be destroyed.

Percy had accepted the fact that food was better for him than death, and he had decided to join Piper and Annabeth's search for food, if only to quench his boredom.

When the girls finally came out of the restroom, Annabeth swung over next to him leaned against his shoulder, her wet hair soaking his t-shirt. "Dry this for me, will you?" Percy scrunched up his nose. Annabeth was always asking of him favors like that, because she knew he would never say no. Sometimes he thought she did it just to test him in some form or other, but he always knew that she wouldn't do that, and that she was just messing with his head.

Percy sighed and reached out his hand toward Annabeth's head, drawing out the water and forming it into a sphere, which he then dropped into a nearby water fountain next to a man. If the man seemed to notice the floating ball of water, he did not show it, only continued to talk on his phone.

Piper came out a minute later, looking as refreshed as he felt. He figured that since she was the daughter of the goddess of beauty, she had no problem getting energetic about primping herself, which she hardly did. Percy also suspected that she had come up with another idea with their situation; Piper was getting increasingly good with that: coming up with ideas.

She motioned for them to join her, and Annabeth hopped up and pulled Percy along. "Come on, I'm hungry." she said.

"Then it's good that you're with me, because I found a good place to satisfy our stomachs." She pointed to a pizza place all the way at the end of the line of shops, and Percy's eyes widened. If anything, this was the best luck they had had all day.

Percy followed Annabeth and Piper down the bustling hall, through the endless display of food and souvenirs. The airport was nothing like Percy had ever seen before. Not because this was only his second time being at one, but because of the immensity of it. He knew it was large compared to other airports, and that it was probably the most busiest. The airport reminded Percy of the mall; the people, the shops, and the tantalizing smells of food drifting through the building bringing back memories of long Friday nights spent with Tyson at the skateboard shops and at the movies.

Annabeth was talking to Piper. "And how much does it cost? We don't have money to afford one, and the mortals might get confused when they hand over a pizza to us without paying for it."

"Trust me, I've got a plan." Piper said. She swished her way to the middle of the room and stood there, arms outstretched, until all eyes were on her. "May I have everyone's attention!" she said. "It would be best if you didn't remember me and these two people. If anyone asks, we're the owners. Is that clear?" She said this in a soothing, comforting voice, not unlike a mother might speak to her children.

To Annabeth's amazement and Percy's delight, the crowd of people obeyed and repeated what she said, as if in a trance. "We will not remember you and your companions. You are the owners." A sheen of purple haze clouded their eyes, and they turned their heads and continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Piper walked up to the counter and ordered three large pizzas: a cheese for her and anyone else who wanted to share-since she was a vegetarian-and a peperoni and sausage for everyone else. She then thanked the man and he nodded in response, saying, "Pleased to serve the owner of Tony's Pizza."

They walked out of the shop holding a pizza each, and Percy burst out laughing. "This was your plan?" He continued to laugh, trying to speak, but gave up after a while.

Annabeth nudged Percy with her foot and looked at Piper. "That was dangerous." she said. "Charmspeaking that many mortals at once, along with the whole thing caught on tape."

Piper gave her a small grin and hefted up her pizza. "I've charmspoken more than that small gathering of mortals before." She started walking down the line of shops, Annabeth pulling Percy behind her. "And anyways, don't worry about the security cameras. I've perfected my art more than you think." With a sly wink, she crept up on Jason and put the pizza in his lap.

Jason was asleep, and when he suddenly felt the heat from his legs, he burst upright and almost wet himself, which would have been embarrassing. He scrambled around for his sword, but when he looked up he saw Piper holding it in her hand, a smug expression about her face.

"Looking for this, whirlwind?" She twirled it around in the air like a baton, and Annabeth looked around her shoulder see if anyone was watching. Thankfully, no one was, and she plopped the pizza she was carrying into Percy's arms and sat herself in the row the demigods had claimed.

"What happened?" Jason asked, looking around also, for fear anyone was watching. "Give me that!" He lunged for the sword, but he wasn't expecting Piper to give it to him willingly, and he almost impaled himself on the imperial gold.

Once he put his sword back into its proper place, he looked to Percy, who was recovering from a case of the giggles, and frowned. Percy hardly ever laughed like that, and the only way he would was when he was extremely happy.

Thankfully, the pizza Jason had thrown with his knees had landed on its top without opening. Piper retrieved the box and held it out to him. She opened the lid and shoved it into his face, Jason's mouth falling open in shock. At this point Hazel and Frank had woken, and Leo had looked up from his project and was studying them carefully, his eyes lingering on the food.

"Where did you get this?" asked Jason, amazed. It was extremely difficult, he knew, to fool many mortals with charmspeak, for they would become suspicious and report them later. Also, he knew, were the security cameras, which were near impossible to avoid without Leo's help. Even with the Mist, a sharp-brained person could tell something was amiss, and they would often feel the need to report their feelings to others, and gradually they would become tense, prepared for anything.

"I asked the kind man behind the counter for three: cheese, sausage, and pepperoni. The man gladly obliged and here we are, with Percy laughing his head off about it and your hair sticking up on end."

Jason realized that his hair was indeed sticking straight up, as if he had been hit by a bolt of lightning. He smoothed it down to its former Roman style and watched as Piper dished out the pizzas to Annabeth, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and a recovering Percy. She offered him a slice, and he happily accepted a pepperoni. Piper got a cheese and sat down beside him, watching a news report on the TV across from their row.

After all three boxes had been devoured by the half-bloods, they fell asleep in the arms of their chairs, content and glad they were still together.

When they woke, the seven demigods stretched and combed their fingers through their hair, receiving odd looks from the people around them. They paid them no heed; only cleaned up their mess from the night before and shuffled to the restrooms.

Leo had stayed up a few extra hours later than the other demigods, working on his new project. He had completed it that night, and after the restroom he went back to his chair and began tweaking it until he was satisfied with it. After tucking the object into his toolbelt, he went to see what Percy and Annabeth were up to.

Chiron had said that they would be receiving money from Camp Half-Blood today, but he didn't mention anything of _this _amount, thought Leo as he peered over Percy's shoulder. Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Annabeth, and himself were all crowded around him, watching silently as he counted up the money. He finished, and he carefully put the money back into its original order, careful not to create any wrinkles in the perfect green paper.

"How much is it?" whispered Frank. Leo could see the excitement in the boy's eyes, dancing there like a fire burning within a forge. Percy handed the money back to Leo, who they all knew they could trust, for he had the most pockets of them all and would be the most careful as to not lose it.

"Enough to get us back to Ireland. In a jet. Five times over." Percy breathed in silent relief. They could finally get back to Camp Half-Blood.

Suddenly, the intercom for the airport blared to life, and a deep, snarling voice said, "Percy Jackson and his companions." The voice paused, and then started up again. "If you wish to let these mortals see another day, you will do as I say." A feminine voice let out a startled yelp, and there was a clatter, and all was still. The person continued. "Meet me at the back." Then the intercom went silent, and the person said no more.

Stunned, they all looked around at each other, as if comprehending the situation, then, as one, they rose to their feet and drew their weapons, not bothering to hide them from the mortals. Percy looked around and was unsurprised to not hear cries of alarm or fear, but rather the usual comings and goings of the mortals. No one had seemed to notice the strange voice on the intercom, and no one seemed to care.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "That monster, or whatever it is, could be trying to fool you. There might not be anyone in trouble..." She trailed off as she looked into Percy's eyes and saw the evidence in plain sight of her: Percy would do anything to save another, and nothing could get between him and his goal. She studied him carefully, then said, "Right. Let's go. Piper and Hazel, you take the west end. Frank and Leo, the east. Jason the north, and me and Percy will take the south. He'll most likely be referring to the south-"

"No."

Everyone turned to look at Percy. They were all about to go to their respective locations with orders from Annabeth. But Percy said no. And they backed down.

"I'll take Frank to the south; Annabeth, go with Piper to the north, and Hazel go with Jason." He made no reasons for his choices, but turned and ran to the south end of the airport.

Frank ran behind Percy, jogging to keep up. "Hey, Percy," he said. Percy waited for him to continue, then said, "Mind if I speed this up a little?"

Percy gave a grim smile and said, "Go as fast as you can. You won't pass me."

After that, Frank promptly turned into a cheetah, running through he airport faster than he had ever run before. Amazingly, though, Percy was able to keep pace with him, if not a little swifter He glanced at Percy's legs and saw them moving faster than was possible, the sound of his footsteps ricocheting of the walls like bullets from a machine gun.

Percy knew what the monster meant by the "back." Most monsters had a keen sense of direction, but they couldn't put it into words. So instead of saying south, he said "back," and north forward and west and east left and right.

Percy skidded to a stop as he reached the end of the hall. He smelled something burning, and he looked down and saw his shoes smoking, the scent of burnt rubber filling the air. He stomped his feet once, and opened the exit door for Frank. Frank scurried out in his cheetah form, and Percy followed after him.

They were in the parking lot. Not the parking building, but the one on the ground. The bright sun blinded Percy for a moment, then he shook it off and looked at Frank.

The cheetah slowly morphed into a bloodhound and put its nose to the ground, sniffing for a trail. He followed Frank until he stopped at a nearby alley across the street from the airport. Frank gave a long howl, and turned back into his original for, a sheen of sweat glistening across his forehead.

"What was that for?" asked Percy/

Frank's face turned even more red from embarrassment, and he looked down the alley. "Instinct." he said, and trotted through the opening in the side of the buildings and stepped over a tied trash bag. "Let's go."

They trudged down the alley until Percy's scalp began to tingle and he drew Riptide. Frank also drew his sword, and they stood back to back, so they could face both openings.

"Where do you think-"

Percy was interrupted by a loud roar. It went on for a few seconds, and then four spikes went hurtling toward them, ripping through their shirts and pinning them to opposite walls, which were made of brick. Percy had tried to deflect the spikes, but he had been too late and had only managed to get one of the spikes in the lower part of his sleeve, which meant he could free himself by leaning forward and pushing his shoulder against it.

"So, we meet again, Percy Jackson." the voice hissed. "You and one of your little...friends." The hairs on the back of Percy's neck pricked up. The voice had a French accent to it.

A man departed from the shadows, carrying a small girl bound and gagged behind him. The girl was no more than three feet tall and had short red hair falling in front of her face. The girl looked up, and her eyes widened. She met Percy's eyes, and he noticed that they were mismatched: one was blue, and one was hazel.

The alley was big enough for five men to walk side by side. Frank was directly across from him, and they could both easily get free. Frank looked up at him and motioned with his head toward the spikes. Percy shook his head, and Frank nodded and jutted out his chin to the man, as if to say _Who is this? _

The manticore walked up so he was between Percy and Frank. He kept one hand on the girl, and with the other he lifted Percy's chin. "You've grown, boy." He rubbed the stubble on Percy's face with a yellow fingernail. "But not so much."

"What do you want, Thorn?" Percy spat. The man took back his hand and examined Frank, who was looking at them in confusion.

"Um...should I know who you are?" Frank asked.

"No. You shouldn't." Dr. Thorn stood between them and hefted the girl so they could see her. "But Percy should, and I think he knows what I do to little girls." He paused a moment and studied Frank carefully. "I throw them off cliffs."

Frank uttered a short bark of laughter, then, with strength he hadn't known he had, pushed his shoulders outwards and snapped the spikes in half. "And do you know what I do to monsters?" Frank said. Thorn's eyes widened, and a look of fear crossed his face. "I eat them."

Percy leaned forward and ripped out his own spikes, then threw them at Dr. Thorn. He deflected them easily, and his tail rose up from behind him and spikes shot out, attempting to pin them back.

This time, Percy managed to knock the spikes out of the air with his sword, and he advanced toward Dr. Thorn, a smile appearing on his lips. The manticore backed away and attempted to run out of the alley from where he had come from, but when he wasn;t looking Frank had turned into a snake, slithered between his legs, and now stood in the form of a giant black bear. Frank roared once, and Dr. Thorn instinctively shot five spikes at him.

They stood too close together for the spikes to miss, and Frank couldn't bat them out of the air because of his massive size. Frank tried to snap them up with his jaws, but they were coming too fast for him to do anything.

In that split second that the manticore shot the poisoned spikes at him, a disk whistled through the air. It bounced off the wall and landed straight in front of the incoming projectiles, taking the spikes out with it.

Percy took his chance and swung his sword at Dr. Thorn's head, who was turned away from him. The manticore uttered a startled yelp, and he collapsed in piles of dust.

Frank shrank down back to his normal form, stunned. One second he was about to be impaled with spikes, and the next a glistening disc of metal had flew over his head, bouncing off the wall, and saved his life. Percy also seemed stunned, and they both stared down at the trashcan lid that had protected Frank from being killed.

A monstrous, booming voice thundered down the alley. It was the largest either of them had ever heard, and they turned to face it with their swords raised up. "Holly!" the voice shouted.

Percy glanced at the girl and relaxed. Her dad was probably worried sick about her. He crouched down so he was eye-level with the girl and began to work on the ropes securing her wrists, and then took off the gag.

The girl didn't move, just stood with her mouth slightly opened. "You're real." she finally said.

Percy blinked. The girl-Holly-didn't sound as he thought she would. In fact, now that he was closer to her, he saw that she had the body of a woman and not a child, only that she was really small.

The man ran up and grabbed Holly's shoulder. "Holly, are you okay?" He crouched down so he could see her well, and she nodded her head yes.

The man, Percy guessed, was probably seven foot tall. He had hardly any hair, and he wore a suit that would have been impossible to find at a Big and Tall store. Big and tall was the exact words to describe this man, though, and Percy feared that this was another monster; it was hardly ever found in nature that a man could be so...large.

A boy about Percy's age walked slowly down the alley. The man looked up, and so did the small woman. Their frowns quickly turned to happy smiles, but they seemed to treat this boy with respect unfound by regular mortals.

Still cloaked in shadow, the boy walked down the alley until he stood beside the Holly and the large man. He stepped into the light, and at first Percy thought he was looking at a male version of a empousai; the boy had skin pale enough to make Nico jealous.

The man moved his gaze to from the boy to Percy, and he noticed him for the first time. His expression was of utter shock, and he straightened up and looked back to the boy.

"Hello, Percy Jackson, Frank Fai." He removed his sunglasses. "You may call me Artemis Fowl."

**A/N: My fingers hurt. Please review. Ow. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for a while. I'll try and make the next chapter a long one.**

Holly closed her mouth for the fourth time. Here was live evidence of gods: A boy with reflexes as sharp as a snake's, and a boy who could turn into a snake. Holly now understood how Artemis felt when he had captured her. Elated. Excited. Unbelieving.

Until then, Holly had doubted Artemis' findings. He had no real proof except for photos he took from a satellite and videos from the news. But now...now they had found them. Another civilization hiding from others.

Holly had been woken up from the hotel room by a loud banging coming from downstairs. She was curios, so she crawled out her window and dropped to the ground three stories below, and then healed herself. She didn't have her wings, and the risk was too great to alert the Mud Men.

So Holly had searched for the cause of the noise, and unfortunately, she had found it. Or rather, the noise found her. A giant porcupine scooped her up, and with apparent ease, bound and gagged her, but not without Holly first screaming for Butler. She had bounced around on the shoulder of the porcupine for several blocks before she reached an alley, and then the creature dropped her and slipped into the shadows. It had been early morning then, and the sun was still rising.

The porcupine returned a few minutes later and stood beside her, waiting for someone. She had heard a bark, and then she saw two boys appear at the end of the alley with swords drawn, ready for anything. The bigger boy was a miniature version of Butler, while the other seemed like he could fight off an entire army by himself if he had to.

She watched the porcupine man lift his tail and shoot spikes at the two boys and pin them to the wall. Then the man walked between them, talked for a bit while examining them, and then the muscular boy in front of the creature broke the spikes and turned into a bear, while the other boy ripped his out of his shirt and thrust them at the monster. That's when the monster turned around and shot quills at the bear, and that's when she heard a deep-throated grunt, and that's when the trash can lid flew from over her head and took out the spikes.

The boy behind the man then sliced the porcupine's head off, and the creature tumbled into dust, a fierce snarl on its face. Then the bear turned backed to a boy and the two teenagers stared at the disc.

And now there she was with Butler, Artemis, Percy and the bear boy, all in a circle outside of the airport. They had exchanged names and scrutinized each other, looking for any sign of malice. Artemis appeared the most relaxed, while the boy named Percy seemed fidgety, as if he were waiting for them to attack. Holly didn't blame him. After hearing so much about him from Artemis, she expected the boy would be causing tidal waves in Florida and earthquakes in Japan.

Holly marveled at the boy's powers. When Artemis had told her what he could do, she had been disbelieving. No Mud Boy could have that much power over nature. It wasn't natural. HE wasn't natural.

"So, let me get this straight," the boy was saying. "You traveled all the way from Ireland just to meet me and my friends?" Butler nodded his head, and Artemis remained impassive as always. "But why? What's so special about us? We're not criminals, if that's what you're thinking." Percy glanced at Butler, and then looked away. He didn't seem scared of him, Holly thought. _That's also unnatural_. Rather, the boy seemed wary, as if he wasn't sure they were on his side.

"We know about you, Percy." Artemis interrupted. "We've seen what you can do. You fight monsters. You save the day. You're a hero." Artemis paused, then in a lower voice said, "You are Poseidon's son."

At that, Percy took out a pen from his pocket and flipped the cap off. The pen expanded until he was holding a baseball bat, but Holly knew that wasn't what it was. As she did earlier, she concentrated until she saw a sword, and the image became clearer until he held a bronze blade three feet in length with an edge as sharp as any she had ever seen.

Percy hesitated, then stabbed his sword at Artemis. Artemis didn't flinch, but stood there, as if he didn't see him. Butler tried to leap in front of Artemis, but he was too late and he fell on his side. The blade went straight through Artemis' gut, and Holly screamed.

"ARTEMIS!" She ran over to where Artemis was still standing and kicked at Percy's right hand, which was holding his sword. His eyes widened, and he dropped the sword. Holly tackled Artemis, but he didn't seem to budge. She noticed the sword lay on the ground, and she looked at Artemis' suit for a cut, or even a trace of blood.

Holly found no such thing. Artemis stood there, examining Percy's face while Holly examined Artemis for a stab wound. Finally, she punched Artemis where Percy had stabbed at him, and felt Artemis' stomach beneath her knuckles. She was even more surprised to see, though, that not only did Artemis survive a blade between his ribs, but he didn't keen over as he would have before.

"Artemis, you're fine! How come you're still alive?!" He didn't answer, just continued to study Percy. Frustrated, Holly jumped as high as she could and slapped Artemis on the face. "Listen to me, Mud Boy! Answer! Now!"

Finally, Artemis turned his gaze on her; a blank, indifferent look about him. He studied her face as he did Percy's and focused on her eyes. He lifted his head and said to Percy, "I am a mere mortal. You cannot harm me with your weapons. I am no monster, nor god nor demigod. And, as you can tell, neither is he." Artemis nodded in Butler's direction, who was still in shock.

Butler's face turned red as he faced Percy. "What are you people?" he growled. "You threaten my principal with a sword and stab it through him, only to have it drop through his body." He looked from Frank's face and back to Percy's, looking for an answer. "Is this some sort of game?"

"No, it is not a game." Percy didn't seem at all frightened from Butler. In fact, he didn't seem to even notice him, only watched Artemis with the same intensity Artemis was. Holly's gaze drifted to the ground where Percy's sword still lay, and she watched in fascination as it slowly disappeared.

Holly looked up at Percy. "Where'd it go?"

Percy tore his eyes away from Artemis' face and noticed Holly for maybe the second time that day. He raised an eyebrow, and he patted his pocket.

"In here."

Frank interrupted. "You said that you and that...man were both mortal. What about her?" He nodded at Holly, and looked back at Artemis. "Is she a nymph?"

"No, she is not a nymph." Artemis lowered his eyes until he could see Holly again. "Care to explain, Holly?"

The only thing Holly could think to say was: "What's a nymph?"

Percy huffed. "A nymph is a nature spirit. I thought you knew everything about us?"

"No, I don't. That guy does." She jerked her thumb at Artemis. "Well, you could call me a nymph. I guess I'm sorta like one." She paused and cocked her head at the two demigods. "I'm a fairy."

After meeting Leo, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, and Hazel -who they found near the south entrance- Artemis led them through the streets and to the hotel he was staying in, where he had rented the entire top floor. Butler had objected severely because of the risk of bad escape routes, but Artemis had reassured him by telling him they were fine and to trust him on this. Butler eyed him suspiciously, but eventually gave in, warning Artemis about the last time they stayed on the top floor.

The demigods readily agreed on staying at the hotel for the next couple of hours, pigging out at the restaurant downstairs or sleeping in one of the many beds Artemis provided them with.

During this, Percy explained to Annabeth what had happened, and her face went sour.

"You can't trust him, you know that right?" Annabeth said.

Percy laughed. "Of all these years, that's the one thing I will always remember. Never trust anyone. And anyways, Riptide didn't kill him, so I don't think we have to worry."

"Still," Annabeth said, "It could be a trap. It could be the Mist messing with our heads, or Gaea could have brainwashed him. Who knows?"

"I don't think so." Percy said. "He doesn't look like the kind that is easily brainwashed. And a fairy..." Percy trailed off, and Annabeth caught his eye.

"I guess we've always known that there were others out there. That we were not alone." Annabeth sighed. 'Let's just hope that we get back to Camp Half-Blood quickly and safely."

"Safely would be nice."

"Yes. Yes, it would."

As they boarded the jet, Butler watched the demigods with increased intensity. Artemis had told him of their abilities long ago, but now he had recently informed him what he had told Holly. Everything, that is to say. Or more likely, everything Artemis was willing to share.

He noticed that the demigods seemed hurried to get on the plane, as if they were happy to get away from the earth and lift into the sky. Artemis had also told him what the demigods were up against, and Butler shivered for the second time that day. There weren't many things more powerful than Butler, but the things that were creeped him out the most. Because anything more powerful than Butler had to be magical. And Butler didn't like magic.

Butler went to the cockpit of the jet and buckled himself up. He had to lean down so as not to bump his head against the doorframe. He buckled himself up and turned on the seatbelt sign, giving a wry smile to the controls in front of him. Butler picked up the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts. We will arrive at Camp Half-Blood in a quarter hour."

Percy sat in front of Artemis, looking troubled. He fingered his clay bead necklace that he always wore and stared out the window at the passing clouds.

Artemis cleared his throat and motioned toward Percy with his hand. "Is there something in particular you would like from me, Percy?"

Without taking his eyes off the window, he said in a slow but steady voice, "Yes. I would like to know why you want to...help us." He turned his head to look at the boy in front of him. "Is there something in particular _you _would like from us, Artemis? Or are you doing this for your own personal gain?"

If he was surprised, Artemis didn't show it. He took a sip of his chamomile tea and studied his laptop screen. "I am doing this because you _need_ me, Percy. I hate to admit it, but you need _us_. The faries." He paused and put down his cup. "This is a problem concerning all races, and frankly, I don't think you can defeat Gaea with just the Greek and Roman camps. You need more..." he shrugged his shoulders, "more."

Percy studied Artemis' face more intently than he had previously before. This boy perturbed him. He unsettled him. How he knew so much, Percy would never know. But if he knew one thing, this boy was smart. Genius smart. And at camp they had plenty of brawn to go around, but the thing they needed most was brains. They needed Artemis Fowl.

Artemis had ordered Butler to drop them off as soon as they reached the camp.

Only now did Butler realize that he meant _above_ the camp.

Butler turned to the boy sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "Artemis, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, it seems a bit too dramatic..."

"We are not doing this for drama, old friend. We're doing this because we have to. Trust me on this." Artemis picked an invisible piece of lint off of his suit and flicked it toward the trashcan to his right. "You needn't worry, Butler. Just put your parachute on and everything will be fine.

Butler's eyes widened. "If I'm going, then who will steer the plane?" He searched Artemis' face for a sign of a plan, but of course, he didn't find one.

"The plane will steer itself." Artemis reached forward and attached something to the dashboard and started pressing buttons. "Again, Butler, do not doubt me. Just know that we'll all be fine." He turned to face Butler and looked him straight in the eye. "Especially me."

And with that, Artemis turned and walked briskly out of the cockpit, ignoring Butler's puzzled frown.

After a moment's hesitation and a quick review of what Artemis had programmed the plane to do, Butler left his seat and went to where the teenagers and Holly were standing, talking quietly to one another. They all had parachutes strapped to their chests, except for Jason, who could control the wind, and Frank, who could turn into a bird.

Percy, Leo, Piper, Annabeth and Jason were huddled together in a tight circle, and after a brief conversation, they decided what they were going to do.

"So, do we have permission?" asked Artemis.

Percy hesitated and looked back at the demigods. They nodded their heads in solemn agreement, and then he turned back to face Artemis

"I, Percy Jackson, give you, Artemis Fowl, permission to enter Camp Half-Blood."

"I, Annabeth Chase, give you, Holly Short, permission to enter camp."

"I, Leo Valdez, give you, Butler, permission to enter camp."

The strongest thunder any of the half-bloods had ever heard was emitted from the sky. It shook the plane, and they clutched the seats to steady themselves.

After repeating the process with Frank and Hazel, who had never been to Camp Half-Blood before, Artemis gave a brief nod of his head and motioned to Butler. "Time to go."

Butler yanked the door open, and the air whooshed out of their lungs. After catching their breath, they looked down and saw Long Island Sound; a distant speck below them.

"Ready?" Artemis asked the group. They nodded their heads, and he looked in each of their eyes. He lingered on Holly's face for a second longer. She was the most determined of the group, and yet she seemed the most frightened. Artemis jutted his chin out and set his jaw. "Let's do this." he said, and jumped.

**A/N: I had a bunch of school work to do right before Spring Break, so I didn't have much time to type or upload this. Tell me what you think about this chapter. Review, comment and flame! Tell me how I can make this story better.**


	6. Chapter 6

Leo had a vague sense of deja vu when he landed. This was the second time he had hit face-first into the oncoming ocean. The first time he had sat up, dripping, with a flaming hammer above his head. This time he sat up, dripping, with a parachute over his head and explosions going off in the distance.

Leo sat up, dizzy. He waited a minute, then unstrapped the pack and ripped away the fabric of the parachute. He stumbled away from it and looked over his shoulder at the rest of the team.

Everyone except Butler, Frank, and Jason were still untangling themselves from the cords and straps. The bodyguard had already undone his pack and was helping Artemis out of his. Once the boy was free, he immediately sat up and yelled, "Percy! Get Hazel!"

A familiar bronze blade ripped through one of the parachutes and a burst of water ten feet high shot into the air. Percy stood in the middle of the storm, his eyes startingly bright against the torrent of blue surrounding him. He noticed everyone struggling with their parachutes and he lifted up his hand, making a claw similar to the one to ward off evil, but with all of his fingers pointing to his chest. He thrust them outward, and the water seemed to turn sharper, more clearer, like the edge of a knife blade.

The sea burst forth, a blade flying toward each of the remaining demigods and Holly. Their parachutes were cut by the water, and they flew off into the nearby sea, skipping across the waves.

Percy skimmed across the water as easily as if he were on a speed boat. He stopped abruptly by Hazel and knelt down beside her. Her face was down in the water, and Percy flipped her over and turned her head to the side. He put his hand under her nose and then his ear to her heart, listening for any signs of life.

"HAZEL!" Frank was nearly as fast as Percy, if not faster. He reached her side and knelt beside Percy. "Is she breathing?" he asked.

"No." Percy said. "She's not."

Frank didn't move. He couldn't move. Hazel had to be alive. She was the daughter of the god of the underworld...of death, but she still couldn't die. It wasn't possible. He wouldn't let it happen.

"Is...is there anything I can do?" Frank's voice cracked, but he ignored it and looked into Percy's deep sea green eyes.

"No, there's not, Frank. But I think I can help her." Frank's mouth opened, but then quickly shut as Percy closed his eyes and put his hand on Hazel's throat. He watched in awe as slowly, droplet by tiny droplet, water came out of her mouth until a small sphere of water was suspended above Percy's palm. He let the water fall back into the ocean, and he looked at Frank. "Your turn."

Percy moved aside as Frank cupped his hands around Hazel's mouth and turned her head so she was directly facing him. He leaned down and blew gently into her mouth, causing her chest to rise.

Frank's lungs were twice the size as Hazel's, so he only had to blow once. He pushed down on her chest until all the air was out of her lungs, then repeated the process until Hazel started sputtering.

Between coughs and breaths of air, she managed to say, "I didn't get kissed, did I?" She looked between the two boys and focused on Frank.

"You did." he said.

Hazel smiled and sat up. Frank helped her to her feet, and Percy went to go find Annabeth, who was helping Holly out of the water.

"You okay, Holly?" Percy asked. He wanted to make sure all the members of his team were alive and working properly.

"Yeah," she said, "I'm fine." Suddenly her eyes widened as she looked over Percy's shoulder. "What...is that?"

Percy turned around, and his jaw dropped. The explosions he was hearing earlier had been coming from the camp. HIS camp.

"Camp Half-Blood is under attack!" he yelled. "Everybody up!"

Everyone got to their feet as quickly as they could and looked where Percy was pointing. Slowly, one by one, their faces turned from confusion, to horror, and then to hard-set determination.

"Let's get 'em!" Leo yelled, and every demigod yelled in return. Frank turned into a large hawk with Hazel on his back, Jason lifted himself, Piper and Leo into the air, and Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm.

"Ready?" she asked. There was a glint of fear in her eyes, but Percy saw that her determination was more than her fear, and that she would do anything to get her camp back.

"Ready as I'll ever be." he said, and took off, running, with Annabeth close by his side.

As they watched them go, Holly said to Artemis and Butler, "Well. I guess we better go after them?"

"Yes, Holly." Artemis said as he dusted off his suit, which he had sprayed with one of the faries' waterproof cans earlier. "We shall go after them."

Butler looked down at Artemis, and he smiled. How much the boy had changed over the years. From being a criminal mastermind to wanting to help people. Artemis. A hero. Butler chuckled at the thought, and he turned to Holly. "Ready, fairy?"

She smiled back at him and hopped onto his back. "When am I not?"

Butler looked back at Artemis, then set out after the demigods, running at an unnatural speed that only years of training could give. As soon as his bodyguard was out of sight, Artemis gave himself a half smile and stretched his limbs.

"But not as ready as me."

When they reached the edge of camp, the demigods looked around at their destroyed camp, unbelieving.

The camp was in ruins. Half-bloods were strewn about everywhere; from the roof of the big house to the strawberry fields, everyone was fighting at least two monsters by themselves.

Pure hatred for Gaea burned in Percy's gut. He didn't care how powerful she would ever be, Percy made his choice right then and there: he would defeat the Earth Mother.

Butler arrived with Holly on his back, and she hopped off onto the ground next to Percy. Soon after, Artemis arrived, taking his time and studying everything around him. Finally, he stopped in front of Percy and nodded his head.

"Okay, genius." Percy said. "What do you want us to do? This is what you volunteered yourself for, right?"

"I want Leo to get the Argo II and fix whatever is wrong with it. Take your time; we need it fully working if you want to defeat Gaea." He glanced at Leo, but he stood there and looked to Percy.

Percy hesitated, then yelled, "Go!" to Leo. "Everyone, do what he orders you to do! We can't afford to waste time."

Leo nodded and scrambled toward the forest, where the bunker was, to get the supplies needed to fix the Argo II.

"Annabeth, I need you to find Chiron and to ask of him our status." Annabeth nodded and ran out to the strawberry fields; Chiron was sure to be fighting with the demigods.

"Hazel, I need you to secure as much celestial bronze as you can. Big or small, it doesn't matter. I need as much as you can get." Hazel looked at Frank. He nodded, and she trudged through the woods, stopping every now and then to put her hands on the ground and concentrate. She disappeared behind the loom of trees, and Artemis turned to Frank.

"Frank, I want you to round up the Ares campers and form an offensive line. Tell Annabeth to keep the Athena campers on defensive, and once you're all secured, fight as hard as you possibly can. Push them back behind the camp's border. Also, tell the Hephaestus campers to bring out the catapults, if they haven't already, and to drown them in as much rubble and Greek fire as possible." Artemis glanced to his side, and saw Butler giving him a questioning look. "Butler, I want you to go with Frank. Help him secure the Ares campers and speak with Chiron." He looked between Frank and Butler's faces, and he sighed. "Go."

Frank ran to where Annabeth was heading, and Butler turned to Artemis. "I can't leave you here like this, Artemis." He waved his arm toward the battlefield. "I can't let you get hurt. I would fail as a bodyguard."

"Butler, you know that's not true." Artemis said. "You're the best bodyguard I could ever wish to have." He stuck out his hand, and Butler tentatively shook it. It was the first time he had shook hands with Artemis Fowl. "Now go kill some monsters for me, old friend." Butler nodded and turned to leave, but Artemis stopped him. "Also, Butler, tell the campers that the Romans will be arriving in," he checked his watch, "thirteen minutes. It will give them hope." Butler cracked his neck and popped his fingers. Without another word, he bounded after Frank, again with his lightning-fast speed of a ninja.

Artemis exhaled and turned to Piper and Jason. "You two." Jason raised an eyebrow and Piper clenched her jaw. "I want you, Jason, to fly above the battle and bring the news to Chiron. Piper, you go with him, but only half as far. Have Jason float you right above the monsters, and yell at them to go back." Jason held Piper by the waist, and took off. "One more thing." Artemis yelled at the sky. "Have Leo give you your cornucopia. It could come in handy!"

They shot into the sky and soared above the raging war. Jason stopped in the air and lowered Piper closer to the ground using the wind. She started screaming insults to the monsters and yelled at them to turn back.

"What is she doing?" asked Holly. She watched the flying girl yell at a monster to stab his fellow warriors, and amazingly, he did just that. He not only stabbed the nearby monsters, but he took off the heads of five nearby dracaenae, dissolving them all into dust. Finally, a nearby giant sliced him in half with his axe, and the monster crumbled to dust like sand in the wind.

"Charmspeak." Percy said with a grim smile. "Works well with getting pizzas." He looked at Artemis. "What do you want me to do? You're the boss."

Artemis took a while to answer. Finally, he said, "I want you to stay with me and Holly."

Confused, Percy cocked his head to the side, his sword in hand. "And what will you be doing?"

Artemis lifted his head to meet Percy's gaze. "We're going to get the fairies."

Butler's first impression of the centaur Chiron was confusion. He could tell that the centaur was old-very old, more older than even Foaly-but appeared to be middle aged man. He didn't seem book-smart like Foaly did, but he seemed extremely wise, like an old grandfather who has seen many years and lived to tell many tales. He also saw a deep sadness within his eyes, but he also noticed crinkle lines above them, which told of years of smiling.

As Butler ran up to him, Chiron's face seemed to mix with dread and a sense of hope. Like he recognized him, and he knew he came to help, but he wasn't completely sure of himself.

Butler stopped by the centaur and folded his arms. Even though he had the mixed height of a man and a horse, Butler came eye to eye with him. The man stared at him for several seconds, then the corners of his mouth twitched and he grinned.

"Butler! Have you come to help us?"

Butler's confusion deepened, and then he felt recognition for this old man. Here was someone he knew, but not like this.

This man-Chiron- was someone he had met on one of his many trips across the globe. He had met him in a different country-Japan, he thought- and he had taught him a new art of fighting that he had just begun to learn.

Chiron had been an old crippled swords-master whom Butler found when he had just received his blue diamond tattoo. He had met the old man at a gift shop. Butler had been looking at an ancient blade designed by a skilled crafter, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"You seem most interested in weapons, young man."

Butler twirled around with his fingers outstretched, ready to hit with the side of his hand or jab with the front of his fingers. He stopped an inch from the old man's neck, and dropped his hand to his side.

"Oh." he said. "I'm sorry."

He had been eighteen at the time, and he had not yet acquired a principal to guard. He was the youngest bodyguard to ever complete the training so quickly and efficiently, and he gained much pride from that fact.

"Do not be sorry." the man had said. He was crippled, and in a wheelchair. He had a blanket over his lap and one hand out to one of the wheels and another on his lap. He didn't even flinch when Butler's hand had come out to the sice of his neck. "Your reflexes are most unique."

At first Butler thought the man was blind and hadn't seen him nearly take off his head with a single swipe, but then he mentally slapped himself. How could he tell he was a "young man," and how could he notice his "unique reflexes?"

"Thank you, sir." Butler said. He was taught to respect his elders, but if they got in the way of protecting his charge, he could run them over. Since he had no one to guard over, he decided to tolerate the crippled man.

"Are you thinking of buying that sword?" He pointed toward he blade Butler had been admiring.

Butler looked toward where he was pointing. "Why, are you the owner?" He looked doubtfully at the man and back at the sword.

"No, I'm just an old man."

Butler looked at the ground, then back up at him. "I am interested in weapons, as you said earlier. I would like to buy this sword."

"Hmm." the man had said. "Do you know how to use one?"

Butler paused and looked suspiciously at the old cripple. Finally, he said, "I know how to do a lot of things. I can wield a sword, yes, but I have never been taught professionally by a swords-master."

The man's eyes sparkled in the dim light. "Tell you what." he said. "I'll teach you how to use one if you buy it."

Butler raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he said. As far as he knew, everyone in Japan knew how to use a sword. But this man seemed to come from somewhere else, if not from some distant time period. "And how would you know how to work a sword?"

"Any fool can work a sword," the man had said. "It is only those that use it properly that are skilled in the art of swordsmanship."

Butler rolled the words around in his mind, trying to make sense of it. Finally, he looked back up at the crippled man and said, "I'll buy the sword."

Butler did just what he had said, as did the man. He taught Butler in a week, and he learned that the man's name was Chiron. He came to respect the man, and the man became proud of him. He was already strong and fit, and he had learned every fighting skill he needed to know.

Chiron was impressed with Butler, and he said that out of all the students he had ever taught, he was the quickest and most efficient at swordsmanship he had taught in many years. The last time he had saw the old sword-master, it was the end of his training. He gave Butler a nod and said to him, "Butler, you have done well. I must leave this country, though, and go back to my regular job. This was a nice vacation, and it was very pleasant for me to teach you the art of using a sword." The man smiled sadly, then said, "Use your skills wisely, Butler. I have seen many men go astray by the destruction wielding a weapon can cause." He nodded one last time and left him there.

That was the first time Butler had seen a master be so kind to his student. And now he stood in front of his master again, but this time in the midst of war, and this time his master had not only regained use of his legs, but he also had two extra. And a tail.

"Master Chiron?" Butler said, confused. "What...happened to you?" He waved his arm at the stallion part of his body. "You're a horse!"

"Not a horse, by dear pupil, but a centaur." He walked over a few more feet so he could see Butler more clearly, then said, "You have grown, Butler. And I suspect you have a principal now?"

Stunned, Butler said, "Yes. I have a principal now. But this..." he motioned toward the camp, "this is your job that you were vacationing from?"

"Yes, Butler, but we don't have time to talk. Now, have you come to help us or not?"

Startled, Butler hesitated, then said, "Yes. We have come to help you fight off the...monsters. Whatever you want to call them."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "We?" Butler was about to reply, then Chiron said, "Ah, forget my questions. As I said before, we have no time." Chiron called for a nearby boy, who had a funny hitch in his step. "Grover, get this man some armor and a weapon."

Butler saw that the boy's hitch was actually caused by his legs-which were covered in fur- and when Butler looked lower, he saw that the boy wore no shoes, and that instead of feet, he had hooves. Butler was not surprised. Even if Artemis hadn't told him about satyrs, after what he had seen, he could believe anything.

Grover sized him up, then said, "I don't think we have armor his size." He paused, then said, "But I think I can get him a weapon." He looked to Butler for confirmation, and Butler nodded.

"I don't need armor, anyways. It'll just slow me down."Grover dipped his head, and rushed off to a shack further off in the distance.

Butler stood beside his former master and watched the battlefield. He listened to Chiron explain their situation and battle plans, and finally Butler remember something.

"Chiron." Butler interrupted. "I have forgotten to tell you something."

Chiron stopped talking and turned his head to Butler. "Yes, what is it, Butler?"

"The Romans are coming."

As Artemis ran toward the forest with Percy and Holly, he looked at his watch for the tenth. He already had a clock programmed in the back of his eyes, bu this was one of those times where he would second-guess himself. Would it work? Would his plan work?

He knew it would. His plans never failed. Never. And if they ever did, he always had twenty backup plans to go with it. And ten more backups for each of those.

He stopped in front of where the woods began. Leo should be there any second now...

There!

The Argo II sailed over the tops of the trees and landed, shuddering, a few yards in front of the trio. A ladder flew over the side, and Leo climbed down.

"Sup, Percy." He glanced at Artemis. "It might take me a while to repair the damage to the Argo II. It might take me...maybe three hours." He paused. "Give or take a few."

"Is this the Argo?" Holly asked, skimming her hand along the side of the ship. Even though it was badly damaged, it gleamed in the sunlight, the golden masthead of a dragon shining brightly against the blue sky. There were multiple holes in the side, but Holly thought it wasn't anything the Mud Men couldn't fix.

"Yes." Leo said, admiring the ship with her. The masthead turned toward her and opened it's mouth, making a creaking noise that also sounded like a groan.

"Ahh!" Holly yelped. She stumbled back into Artemis, who was looking at his watch again.

She landed on the Mud Boy with a solid _thump_ and they both went sprawling. Holly ended up on top of Artemis, and she had a flashback when she went back in time. She had been afraid Artemis was about to die, and she...

Artemis' eyes widened, and he must have been sharing the same thought. "Holly-"

"Yes. I'm fine." Her words were quick and sharp, and she pulled herself off the Mud Boy. She silently lent Artemis her hand, and he took it and stood up, brushing off his suit and checking his watch again.

Percy and Leo stifled chuckles and watched them turn their backs so they couldn't see each other, their cheeks red from embarrassment.

Holly clenched her fist and looked at Percy. "What are you laughing at, Mud Boy?"

"Nothing," Percy said, glancing at Leo. "Mud Boy? What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Festus, who was also trying to stifle his laughs. Festus was getting more human every day. Sooner or later, Leo thought that he might come back to life. Or whatever he had before he came a masthead.

"What is that?" Holly said, pointing to Festus. "A robot?"

Leo snorted. "A robot? No! It's a dragon. I thought that was obvious. Or do fairies not know what a dragon is?"

Holly cocked an eyebrow. "I know very well what a dragon is. More so than you, I'm sure."

"Really?" It was Leo's turn to raise an eyebrow. There seemed to be a living fire burning withing his eyes. "I don't think that you do."

"Yeah, I do. I know that they spit fire and tear things to shreds with their claws." She made a face. "Dragons don't make clacking noises and need to be oiled once every few days." Holly only knew what habits dragons had because of her father, who had studied them carefully. It was his favorite thing to learn about, and he had told her everything he knew. She figured Artemis wouldn't like them because they treasured gold the most. But here was a dragon-a dragon's head, really-made of gold. Holly was secretly impressed, but then again, she hardly ever was impressed, and she wanted it to stay that way.

Leo's eyes seemed to burn, and then they did. White-hot flames streamed out of his eyes and down his arms and torso. They engulfed his whole body until all Holly saw was the outline of a very bright, very flaming boy.

Holly stumbled back into Artemis again, but this time he caught her. She was too stunned to do anything but stay there and stare.

"You know nothing of fire." Leo hissed.

Leo burned for a few more seconds until Percy said gently to him, "Leo. Stop. We don't want to burn our..." he looked over at Artemis and Holly, who was clutching Artemis' arm. "Guests." he finished.

Leo looked at her suspiciously and his flames died down. His clothes started steaming, but he ignored them and marched around the side of the boat, where they couldn't see him, and started nailing something back together.

Leo continued to hammer on the wood, and Holly slowly released her grip on Artemis. She hadn't noticed she had been holding on to him so tightly, and she turned around to face him. "Sorry, Artemis."

Artemis didn't seem at all surprised that Leo had suddenly burst into flames. He just nodded his head and looked over the rim of his mirrored sunglasses that he always wore at Percy.

"Is he well?" he asked.

Percy sighed. "He'll be fine. Just needs to...simmer down." He didn' even laugh at his own joke, just kicked a pebble and sat on the ground. "So, Artemis." He glanced over his shoulder at the Big House. "What are we doing?"

"I need something from Leo first, then I'll explain the plan to you." Artemis dusted off his hands and walked past Percy. "I'll only be a second."

Artemis walked to the other side of the flying ship to where Leo was furiously working on a hole in the side of the boat. He stood behind him for a few second until Leo put his tools down and wiped his hands on his pants.

"You don't have to reprimand me."

Artemis clicked the tip of his perfectly rounded fingernails together. He checked his watch again and sighed, rubbing his temples. He would need to appear like a friend to Leo. That was the only thing Artemis was bad at faking. Being a friend.

"Whatever made you think I would scold you, Leo?" He used his name. Good. One point for trying to sound sympathetic.

"Um...I burst into flames and threatened your girlfriend?"

Artemis jerked his head up to meet Leo's gaze. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever." Leo said. He turned back to what he was working on and scowled. "One ship won't save us from Gaea." He sat down with his legs crossed underneath him. "Nothing will."

Artemis paused. He knew this was coming. Artemis walked over to where Leo was and sat down on the grass with him.

"To storm or fire the earth must fall." Artemis said. "You know what that means. Gaea has to fall. And by either yours, Percy's, or Jason's hands. You have the power to save the world, Leo."

Leo stared down at his hands. They were hardened from working in the forge and the nails were cracked from fighting monsters. A short, harsh laugh escaped him. "My hands." he repeated. "You're saying I will bring Gaea down with my bare hands?"

"I'm saying it's possible."

Leo folded his fingers until they created two fists. He clenched his hands and said,"What do you want from me, Artemis?"

Artemis paused. Here came stage three. "What do I want from you, Leo Valdez?" He took his sunglasses off and looked Leo straight into the eye. "I want you to kill Gaea."

Shock registered across Leo's face. Then his features hardened, and he said, "I can't. You told me to repair my ship, remember?"

"Yes, I do remember, Leo. But right now the best thing you can do is to repair this ship. If you don't, the plan won't work."

Slowly and tentatively, Leo asked, "What plan?"

And so Artemis told Leo his plan. His full plan. He told no lies when Leo asked questions, but he didn't tell him every detail. The details would be left to him. Were up to him.

"And will you oblige to do as I ask?" Artemis finished. He looked at Leo's toolbelt, which was wrapped around his waist.

Troubled, Leo felt around in the pocket of the bag and pulled out what he had been working on. "This was going to help me get a friend back." He stared at it intently, then pushed a few buttons and handed it to Artemis. "Here. It's coded to you now. And the fairy. And Percy."

Artemis nodded his head as he took the sphere that Leo had made. If given time, Artemis could design it better, and if given magic, he could design it even better than that. "I know about Calypso, Leo."

Leo's cheeks turned red. "How-"

"It doesn't matter." He turned the sphere around once more and held it in his left hand. "Just remember that I promised you that you'll get your sphere back and your friend. Remember it."

Leo nodded and said, "I'll keep you to your word."

They both stood up, and Artemis said, "I'll see you in a couple of hours, Leo. It shouldn't take long to convince the whole of the fairy race to join the battle." He winked and put his sunglasses back on. He started to walk away, then turned around to Leo and said, "Oh. And one more thing for the plan." Leo perked his head up. "Tell Chiron to use plan 329."

And with that, Artemis walked around the ship, grabbed Holly and Percy's arms, and opened the portal that Leo had given him. He thrust Percy by his arm into the hole in the air, and stopped Holly. "Try to stop falling against me, Holly. You keep distracting me." Her cheeks turned red, and he pushed her through. He paused a second and shrugged his shoulders. How much he had changed.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Chapter seven is up. Read it. Review it. Point out my mistakes.**

Piper soared across the field of monsters, cornucopia in hand. They were everywhere. On the ground, in the sky, and even in the trees. She watched with fascinated horror as the line continued on for miles. She didn't even know there were that many monsters ever created, much less working for Gaea. How Gaea got them to all obey her, she would probably never find out.

Piper looked up above her to find Jason looking down with concern and fury at the beasts attacking his new home. He had been at Camp Half-Blood for only a few months, and yet he treated it as if he had been raised there his whole life. "Piper, look!" Jason yelled down.

She followed his finger to where he was pointing. There, in the middle of the army of monsters, were small monsters; weak minded and easy to kill. Piper knew, though, that if they ever reached camp, their sheer mass would destroy them.

She watched the hundreds of small monsters and tried to figure out which ones would be easiest to kill. She saw skeletons, harpies, baby cyclopes, and a large number of clay dolls.

Piper's body racked with a shiver. She had never seen anything so lifeless but so determined before; not even the skeletons. They were the size of a human and they carried bricks for weapons. Their eyes, along with the rest of their bodies, were a solid brownish reddish color. The color you could only get by mixing blood with mud.

She saw one look up at her and smile. The corners of it's mouth turned upward until Piper thought that it's face might break. It's mouth reached it's eyes, and Piper thought she just might be able to stick a roasted ham in there if it kept on going.

Then it opened it's mouth.

The doll's lip curled until she could see it's teeth. They were razor-sharp and pure white. It opened it's mouth even wider. It's teeth stretched with it, until it's mouth was open a full foot, but still the doll's long teeth touched opposite ends; the front teeth touching the bottom part of it's mouth, and the bottom touching the top. It hissed at her, and Piper screamed.

She shot it with a cantaloupe from her cornucopia.

The monster's head splintered into a million clay pieces, and it crumbled into dry dust.

Piper saw that she had shot the cantaloupe with such ferocity that it made a crater two feet deep in the ground.

"What's the matter?" Jason yelled down at her.

"The monsters!"

"What about it?" he brought himself lower so he could fly next to her.

"They're made of clay."

Jason looked closer, and Piper saw his eyes widen. "The Gaea Monster."

"The what?"

"Gaea's most prized destroyers. They regenerate ten times as fast as regular monsters." He looked at Piper, a shakiness in his eyes. "They were lost from history. And now...Gaea has brought them back. He flew closer to the clay dolls, examining them. Three of them turned their heads and hissed, and Jason easily cracked them with a gust of wind. "They're easy to kill," he said, returning to her. "But there are so many of them that it'll be harder."

Piper nodded and continued to stare down at the mass of living clay figures. Then she flipped the cornucopia around in her hand and aimed it at a group of dolls. "Let's do this. 

Holly sighed. There was no way the Mud Boy could get the fairies on his side. He could get a few, yes, but the whole race? It was impossible.

Then again, Artemis had done the impossible many times before. He had died, for instance, and came back to life. In a different body.

Holly studied her eyes in the glassy wood in front of her. One eye was blue, the other was hazel. Artemis used to have the opposite color-one hazel, the other blue-but ever since he had entered his new body, his eyes had remained blue.

"So you're saying that you want the entire fairy population to drop what they're doing and go and help you?"

"Not to help me, Council Member Shine, but the entire world." Artemis paused, then looked around at the rest of the council. He noticed how much likeness they had to the Greek and Roman councils. They sat in a "U" shape, and there were twelve of them. All of them were very old, and some weren't even fairies. "And not just the fairies, either, Member Shine," Artemis continued, "but the dwarves, goblins, pixies, demons and any other race that may out of contact from the human world."

Artemis watched as, one by one, the council member's jaws dropped. Some uttered exclamations of surprise, but in all, Artemis saw disgust in their eyes. An old dwarf's eye twitched, and then a loud sound and a smell of stink erupted from him.

The pixie he was originally talking to had wrinkles under his eyes. He barked loudly, "We will not tolerate this, Artemis Fowl. You cannot barge in here demanding our help against something that was not even heard of until today." The pixie fluttered above his chair, a nervous tick in his left shoulder. His green skin glistened with sweat in the fluorescent lighting.

"This is the world we are talking about here, Councilor Shine. If you do not help, we may not survive to see another day." Artemis checked his watch, then sighed and shoved his arm behind his lower back.

"We have no evidence that this...race even exists." Shine scratched behind a pointed ear, then said, "Give us proof, and we'll consider it."

Artemis pointed to Percy down the table, who had his head on his hand and was studying the dwarves and fairies and pixies intently. "This boy," Percy turned his head toward him, "is all the proof you will ever need." Artemis nodded his head. "Do your thing, Percy."

Percy raised an eyebrow and pulled out the ballpoint pen he always carried around with him. He held it away from himself and flicked the lid off. The pen expanded into a three foot long sword made of bronze, and Percy stood up.

"This here," he twirled his sword around, "is called Anaklusmos. I have heard that you understand all languages, so you will be able to translate it easily." He rested the tip of it on the ground and waited for their reactions.

Stunned, twelve voices breathed, "Riptide."

Holly looked at the Mud Boy. He named his sword? Holly went through the day's past events in her head, and she suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.

Everyone stared at her, but she continued to laugh. Artemis remained impassive, and he watched her as tears rolled down her face.

When she was done, Holly covered her mouth and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Councilors, but this day has proved to be too much for me." She looked at Artemis, and he nodded his head, as if he knew what she was thinking. He probably did. "Please excuse me." Holly got up and left, stopping only to push her chair back under the table.

Artemis watched her leave, then turned his attention back on the council. "Please excuse her abnormal behavior. She has had a rather...perplexing day."

He watched as twelve eyebrows rose and fell in unison.

Shine nodded to Percy. "Continue the display of your talents. We would like to know what these...half-bloods can do."

Percy amazed them all by performing feats with water and showing them many different tricks. He showed them how he had trained with his sword, and he talked a lot about Camp Half-Blood. He felt they were wasting time, but he knew that the fairies' help would be extravagant for their chances for success.

Artemis kept his mind split in three directions: One part of brain was focused on what Percy and the council were doing. The second part was reviewing his plans. The third part, though, was filled with boredom. This hardly ever happened to him, so he decided to study the fairies' architecture.

Artemis already knew how the whole of Haven was planned out, including how the building were built, with what supplies, and who they were made by. But he couldn't help admiring how the faries and humans thought so alike.

The courtroom he was in right now looked like any other courtroom. It had wood tables, chairs, and rows of pews behind him. Instead of one judge's booth, though, it had twelve. The room was the biggest in Haven, he knew, and contained the most wood. The faries hardly ever got to go to the surface, and he knew wood was priceless down here. The fact that he had gotten the council together so quickly still amazed him. It usually took days, or even weeks, to call them together. But when Artemis Fowl, who saved the world countless times, drops in the middle of Haven with an embarrassed fairy and a confused demigod, someone is going to notice.

Percy finished up talking and walked back to his seat. The council was silent for a while, then said, "We will discuss this privately, and then we will let you know our decision." They got up and went out a door in the back, where Artemis knew there was a separate room, and shut the door.

Percy exhaled. "So," he said, "what now?"

"Now we wait on their final decision."

"And if it's a no?"

"It won't be a 'no.'"

Percy leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "How do you know so much, Artemis Fowl?" He stretched his arms up behind him and propped his legs on the wooden table.

"Because," he said, "I do."

Holly walked the halls, searching for something, anything, to keep her mind off of what was at hand. The end of the world, and here she was underground, cowering away from her enemies. She should be up there, fighting with the demigods and Butler. But Artemis wanted her here, and anyways she didn't know what good she could do by killing monster after monster. She saw how many there were, if only for a brief second. It would take more than muscle and manpower to take them down. It would take brains, and there weren't that many up there.

Holly somehow found herself standing outside of Foaly's office. The windows were tinted, as usual, and the only sound she heard were the computers from his workers outside his office. She glanced at Foaly's nephew, and he nodded at her and mumbled something in the unicorn language. She shuddered when she remembered her days as a teenager.

No one bothered her. The only people in the room were geeky faries and nerdy pixies and the occasional centaur. Anyways, she was the famous Captain Holly Short who saved the world multiple times. Everyone knew her. She could get away with anything, nowadays. The only trouble she ever had, though, was getting Foaly to notice her, which was like bringing the dead back to life. Which she had, of course.

She knocked on the soundproof wall. "Foaly, I'm coming in!"

She looked at the camera then focused on the lower eye scanner. There was one for centaurs, faries, and one for Foaly's personal assistant, a short pixie by the name of Ally.

She saw a red light pass over her eye, and then she heard Foaly's recorded voice say, "Captain Holly Short. Access granted."

Holly heard a click, and the metal door slid open. She hesitated, then walked inside.

The room was large, dark, and full of computers. Lights flashed against the far wall, and Holly glanced Foaly's outline. As she walked toward him, she watched his computer screens. They were different things on every screen, but the footage was all the same: The war at Camp Half-Blood.

"Foaly."

The centaur jumped, and his tail smacked her in the face. "Who's there?" he said. Then he noticed her unmistakable dark red hair from the light of the computers and a wide grin split his face. "Holly! Are you okay?"

Holly grabbed him in a bear hug, her arms wrapping around his waist. "Hey, Foaly." she said. "Yeah, I'm fine." She lifted her head from his stomach and smiled. "Just came to say hello while I could." She meant for it to come out happy-sounding, but she sounded solemn.

Foaly's face turned serious. "The battle. Have you seen it?"

Holly nodded and said, "Yeah. I've been there."

"To Camp Half-Blood?" He sounded shocked. "Who gave you permission to enter?"

"I don't know. Some girl named Annabeth."

"Chase?"

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?" She stepped back so she could see him better, and he turned on a nearby lamp. She blinked and squinted her eyes.

"Were there any other demigods with her?"

"Yeah. You're starting to sound a lot like Artemis, Foaly. Tell me what's going on."

Foaly's eyes lit up. "I should have known. That little genius..." He turned to one of his computers and started typing. "Where is he now?"

"Artemis? I don't know. He's with the council members right now in the courtroom." She paused, watching his eyes grow wide with amazement. "With some guy name Percy."

Foaly's eye twitched, and he lifted himself out of his customized centaur-chair his wife gave him for his birthday. "A demigod...is in Haven?" he croaked. "Why didn't you tell me before, Holly?"

"I just got here, like, half an hour ago. Don't blame me." She looked him in the eye. "I thought you were the one with all the technology, Foaly. Didn't you spot Artemis, me, and a shaggy-haired teenager falling out of the middle of nowhere into Haven?"

Foaly raised a sharp eyebrow. "And how did you get here, Holly? Did you use a transport?"

Holly hesitated. Then she said, "How about I tell you the whole story, Foaly. Then you can go have a brainy conversation with Artemis when I'm done."

Foaly nodded his head eagerly. "Tell me, Holly."

Holly smiled, then said, "Promise not to tell Artemis that I told you this?"

"I promise," he said a little too quickly. "And then I'll help you in whatever way I can."

Hazel put the last remaining bits of celestial bronze into the pile she had made. She was so worn out from lifting so much metal from the ground that she had to sit down.

Hazel stared at the pile of metal and watched as the sunlight glinted off of it and onto the surrounding trees, making it seem like she was on a different world entirely.

It had not been easy finding celestial bronze en masse. She had started near the edge of the woods and worked her way inwards, stopping only to pile it up in a clearing she found. She had then continued on, getting deeper and deeper into the forest until she had to walk half a mile just to carry it back to the pile. It was hard work lifting metal from the ground, especially precious metal like celestial bronze. Celestial bronze was only mined from Mount Olympus, so it was extremely hard to get. The bits and scraps she found were from weapons half-bloods had left in the woods and from angry gods who threw it off Olympus, making small craters seemingly appear from out of nowhere and causing her to trip. It had not been easy, but she had gathered up enough to come up to her waist, and was thrice as thick around.

Hazel's calvary sword was made from imperial gold, but she would have preferred it to have been made of celestial. They were both the same to her, except that bronze lasted longer than gold, she knew. Now that she thought about it, she could have made a sword from pure diamond if she wanted to, but it would take weeks to find the right materials, and years to forge them together. It would be a perfect sword, yes, but she would have to find a perfect forger. Hephaestus, maybe, but...

She was interrupted from her train of thought by a loud yell. A shadow fell across her, and she looked up. She watched as hundreds of pegasi raced above her, a combination of different colors. There were dark black, blinding white, chocolate brown, and some were speckled with spots across their shoulders and sides. She even spotted a pink polka-dotted one.

Hazel's mouth fell open as she sensed a huge amount of imperial gold heading her way. It couldn't be. Impossible. The Romans wouldn't help them, even if the world _was _about to end. Never.

Hazel gathered her strength and pushed the pile of celestial bronze underground. She ran back toward the battle, whooping as loud as she could. As she ran, she dragged the bronze behind her underground. She had never carried so much metal before, but she felt a new surge of energy. The Romans were here to help them.

When she arrived at the Big House, she stopped carrying the metal and kept on running. She felt a drain in her strength, but she ignored it and continued to sprint toward the strawberry field.

She figured the centaur guy was Chiron, so when she stopped, breathless, in front of him, she called his name. "Chiron! The Romans are here!"

Chiron looked up at the sky and saw the pegasi. He set his jaw and said, "Thank you. My I inquire of your name, young lady?"

"Hazel."

He broke out into a grin, which lifted Hazel's spirits even more, for she hadn't seen a smile in a long time. "Ah, Hazel. I have heard much about you, young lady." He gestured with his arm toward the whole of the camp. "Well, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Butler here has told that you went to find celestial bronze?" He nodded toward Butler, who jutted his chin out and continued to study the battle.

"Yeah, I placed it outside of the Big House." She paused, then said, "I get to see it every day when I eat on the Argo II."

His face relaxed a fraction, and he said, "Thank you, Hazel, for your help." He looked at the Romans, who were dismounting, then said, "You have training in the Roman guard, correct?" She nodded her head, and he said, "Would you accompany to greet them? I'm sure they would feel more comfortable with one of their...brethren around."

"Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you."

"Thank _you _Miss Hazel."

Hazel jogged along beside him as he trotted quickly toward the Big House, slowing down so she could keep up with his elegant strides.

"How did the Romans get past the borders, anyways?" Hazel asked.

"I suppose it was weak enough for them to get past it easily."

Hazel nodded, and they arrived in front of the Big House.

A scarecrow-thing of a boy walked up and took his helmet off. He had multiple teddy bears strapped to his belt, along with the traditional Roman gladius and a javelin.

He jutted out his chin and said, "Where's Reyna?"

Hazel stared at him for a few second, then said, "Hello, Octavian. This is Chiron. I'm sure you remember me, don't you?"

He scowled. "Yes, I remember you. You're the little girl who's the daughter of Pluto. How could I forget?"

They stared at each other for a couple more seconds, then Chiron said, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Octavian. To answer your question, though, Reyna is fighting right now. She's a good warrior, and she volunteered to help in the battle."

Octavian's scowl deepened. "I want to speak with her. Now."

Hazel's face turned red, and in a burst of anger, said, "You have no control here, Octavian. If you want to speak to Reyna, you're going to have to fight to get to her! And if you can't do that, then leave with your stupid teddy bears and watch the world burn!"

Octavian studied her for a moment. Then he said, "We are not cowards. If we have to fight to get to Reyna, then so be it."

Chiron cleared his throat, then said, "If you really want to talk to Reyna, then I can go get her for you." He gave a warning look to Hazel. "But it might be a while before I can get word to her again."

Octavian jutted his chin out, then said, "Whatever, old man. But we're going to fight no matter what." He looked straight into Chiron's eyes, and he said, "Not for your camp, but for out world. We live in it, too."

Chiron nodded his head. "Of course. I expected nothing less from a Roman."

Octavian cocked his head. "Of course not."

The door at the back of the courtroom opened. The twelve council member walked out, one by one, and they took their seats. Once settled, Shine slammed his gavel down three times and said, "Artemis Fowl the second!"

Artemis tilted his head at Percy, and he raised an eyebrow. He rose and walked so he was in front of his table. He looked the council members over to see what their final decision had been. He noticed some of them had sour faces, but the rest kept their emotions hidden. They were good, but Artemis was better, and he felt confidence returning to himself. He knew what they were going to say.

"We have one more question to ask before we make our final decision."

Artemis squared his jaw and said, "Whatever may that be, Council Member Shine?"

Artemis knew what Shine was going to ask next, but he still had to suppress a smile when Shine said, "We want to know how you expect thousands of faries, dwarves, demons, pixies, and any other 'magical' creature willing to fight to Manhattan." Shine watched Artemis, but he gave nothing away. "Most of the fairy population is located under Ireland, as you well know. We are also under France and London and many other countries, but we still want to know _how_. How are you going to move us thousands of miles away? By wing or by any nautical means is impractical. If what you say is true, then we have no time to spare."

This time Artemis let the smile show. The corners of his lips tilted up in a vampire grin and he chuckled. He reached inside his jacket and produced the sphere Leo had made. "By this, Council Member Shine." He noticed their confused expressions, and said, "It is a portal, you might say. To anywhere or place you might want to be." He held it out on the palm of his hand.

The council members looked skeptical. After the moment of initial shock passed by, Shine said, "And you expect us to believe that you can..." he spread his hands, "travel through that thing?"

They needed assurance that what Artemis told them was real. And they needed it fast, or else Artemis doubted they would be able to make a quick decision. He took his red-tinted, mirrored sunglasses off, allowing them to mesmerize him if they wanted to. It was risky, but the world was at stake, and Artemis thought that it might require some risk to save the world.

"Yes, I do, Shine. And if you don't believe me, then the world ends. I honestly don't think that you have a choice, Council Member."

The pixie gulped and exchanged looks with the rest of the council. After a few excruciatingly long seconds, Shine finally said, "We agree to this, Artemis Fowl. We agree to help you fight this evil." He raised his gavel, and brought it down hard three more times. "And may the gods, or whatever there is out there, have mercy on us."

**A/N: Tell me what you think and how I can make my writing better. Should I make longer or shorter chapters? How far apart should updates be? Review and comment and flame. It makes me happy. **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I might change this story to "T" because of all the violence. On with the story!**

Nico thrust his sword upward, stabbing under the giant's chin. The giant's eyes dimmed and it crumbled into coarse yellow dust, leaving Nico covered in a fine layer of the mess.

Nico had been fighting since the morning, when the monsters decided to attack. The day before, they had camped outside Camp Half-Blood, gathering their forces and sharpening their weapons. Once they had a large enough army, they staged attack groups outside the camp's boundaries, pounding and pounding and pounding, until some luck monster managed to kill Peleus the guard dragon and stole the golden fleece, wearing it like a cape around his neck.

The monster was a large cyclops. It had wanted revenge from the camp ever since they had stolen the golden fleece from Polyphemus. Nico had glimpsed his face, and he had been horrified to see that the monster was a savage. It wouldn't take no for an answer and was trained by other cyclopes, making it dangerous and unpredictable.

Nico had learned that the monster's name was Alphaeus. He towered above the rest of the monsters, even the giants. He stood in the middle of the army, a club in hand, watching every move they made with increased intensity, as if at any moment he would attack them, but was still trying to figure out their weaknesses.

Nico was afraid that Alphaeus was close to finding them. Even though the Romans had arrived, the cyclops waged on, sending battalion after battalion of monsters ahead of him to destroy the campers.

Nico had also been told of how large the army was. A camper from the Hermes cabin had told him that Piper said it ran for three miles, and was a full mile wide.

Nico knew that the only way of stopping this attack was defeating Gaea. But right now he couldn't do that. He was in the midst of a war, and he didn't plan on leaving anytime soon. He had to fight. He had to take out the leaders.

Alphaeus seemed to be the one in charge for the first mile of the army. The Hermes camper had also told him that there were two other leaders in the very back, but Alphaeus was the easiest. Nico shoved the thought away. He could only hope to do one monster of a time.

Nico summoned three skeletons from the earth to help him fight. It was becoming easier and easier to summon forth the undead with the scepter, but the earth was getting more and more rigid by the second. Gaea was getting stronger, and she was holding the earth together so Nico couldn't tear it apart. But Nico knew that no one could control everything, even someone as powerful as Gaea. So he made it his duty to try and uncover her flaws and use them against her.

The three skeletons struggled out of the ground, weapons in hand. They managed to get out not a second too late as the earth snapped shut behind them. One of the skeleton's legs got stuck, and Nico had to strain to open the earth back up to free him.

All three of the skeletons held weapons. One had a musket, another a cutlass, and another a spear. They all wore armor, which Nico took as a good sign. They were good fighters, but they had many weaknesses in their physical form. Their armor served as protection, and made it easier for Nico to keep watch on them. Anyways, they needed all the help they could get.

"What is our mission, master?" the skeleton with the musket clacked. The other two looked at him, and Nico motioned toward his side.

"I want you three to follow me and form a defensive circle. I want you," he pointed toward the musketeer, "to stay on my back, and you," he pointed to the skeleton with the cutlass, "to stay on my front, and you to stay on my sides." He pointed to the spear-wielding skeleton, and it nodded it's bony head.

"Will do, master."

"Form up around me, and don't let anything get past your circle. It you do this correctly, I will be shielded from attacks while I fight the cyclops." He nodded at Alphaeus, who was starting to take an interest in them. He noticed Nico watching and gave a crooked yellow smile. He beckoned for him to come over, and Nico suppressed disgust. The brute had killed their guard dragon and stole the golden fleece, which protected the camp and made them prosperous. Without it, the camp wouldn't stay strong for long. He vaguely noticed that the grass was starting to wither and that the needles on Thalia's pine tree were starting to turn brown.

Nico set his jaw and motioned to the three skeletons. They followed him without a word and formed a defensive circle around him, killing any monsters who got too close to him.

He walked through the army of monsters slowly. Some monsters stared at him and tried to make a move, but were cut down by his skeleton guards. Others completely ignored him, while others tried to shove their way through the crowd of monsters and attack him. Nico hid a smile at their attempts. No one could get past him, not even an army of monsters.

He arrived at the base of the circle where Alphaeus the cyclops stood. He watched Nico coldly as he shoved his way through the monsters. The beasts exchanged looks with their leader, and he told everyone to be quiet. Silence fell everywhere, except for the front of the army, who where attacking Camp Half-Blood full force.

"Do you wish to fight me, young demigod?" Alphaeus' deep booming voice echoed across the strawberry fields, and Nico pulled his sword free from his belt. The black blade seemed to leach every bit of light around it. Nico hefted the stygian iron blade up to a fighting position.

"I do not wish to fight you, Alphaeus. I do not wish to fight anyone." He watched as the cyclops rose a bushy eyebrow. "I am not bloodthirsty like you are." Here he motioned for his skeletons to get behind him and protect his back. "But I have come to seek revenge." The corner of Alphaeus' mouth twitched and his one eye slowly blinked. Nico noticed that it was tinged red around the edges, as if it was a reflection of what he saw during the midst of battle. Red. All red and full of anger.

"Then you shall get what you want." He hefted his club. "Fight me, godling. You will lose."

Nico lifted his blade even higher and charged at the cyclops. He swished his sword at the monster's ankles and slipped between his legs. Alphaeus gave a roar of pain and twisted around to face Nico.

"Puny demigod. Face the wrath of Alphaeus!" He brought his club down at Nico, but lunged out of the way at the last second. The rough wood hit his shoulder and probably broke a few bones, but he ignored the pain and switched his sword to his left hand.

"You are a fool to think the Gaea will win," Nico said. He flipped away from the cyclops as he brought down his club a second time, and he spun around with his sword and slashed through Alphaeus' right arm, cutting it off at the elbow.

Alphaeus roared. It was the loudest sound Nico had ever heard. He felt his eardrums pop and his face go numb. Spittle flew everywhere, and Nico hit the ground hard. He saw one of his skeletons-the one with the spear-shatter into a million tiny pieces of bone. His weapon and his armor clattered to the ground, but Nico didn't hear it.

Alphaeus finished his roar and clutched the stub of his right arm. Nico was vaguely aware that the arm he had severed did not turn into dust, but merely dropped to the ground. It was a spoils of war. Ichor-the golden blood of the immortals-ran between the cyclops' fingers. He was breathing heavily, and his black dreadlocks hung over his face.

"If you crush my shoulder, I take your arm." Nico lifted himself off the ground and winced. He couldn't even hear himself speak, but he wanted to make the cyclops angry. More angry than he already was.

"And if you take my arm, I take your life!" He picked up his club with his left hand and smashed it on the ground. Nico easily dodged it and reappeared behind the cyclops.

"Catch me if you can, you big oaf!" Alphaeus spun around and smashed his club on the ground again, but instead only hit dirt.

Alphaeus looked around. Where was that puny half-blood?

"Oi. You reek."

Alphaeus looked down and nearly wet his loincloth. Nico was standing between his legs, poking at the cyclops' giant toenails with the point of his sword.

"Do you ever clean these?" He poked at the smallest toe.

"AAGH!" Alphaeus tried to lift his foot away, but not before Nico managed to cut off three of his toes.

"I'll take that as a no."

The cyclops charged at him with all of his might. He forgot his stump of an arm and leaped at Nico. His only mission now was to kill the demigod.

Nico stayed where he was. He watched as the cyclops came falling down, aiming straight for Nico.

Nico vanished from sight, only to reappear a few yards away.

"I SAID, catch me if you can!"

Nico ran as fast as he could toward Thalia's tree. He slowed down a bit when he was halfway there and looked back. Alphaeus was charging at him, club hefted over his head. His one eye was tinged an even deeper shade of red.

"IS THAT AS FAST AS YOU CAN RUN?"

Alphaeus tried to roar again, but it came out sounding like a strangled scream. Nico started running to the tree again, but this time he slowed his pace down. He reached the tree and stood in front of it, his back pressed against the bark.

The tree was giant. It could easily fit three cyclops stacked on top of each other, and little extra room at the trunk for a couple demigods to fit in with them. Nico watched as the cyclops bellowed and ran at Nico.

He knew that from Alphaeus' point of view he had appeared to trap himself deliberately against the tree. But he also knew that the cyclops was in a rage, and that he wasn't thinking straight. He wouldn't suspect that it was a trap.

When Alphaeus was two yards in front of him, Nico disappeared into the shadow of the tree. The cyclops slammed into the trunk and groaned. He lifted his head from the bark of the tree and ripped free a few splinters from his face.

Alphaeus looked around, confused. Suddenly a shiver went down his back. He looked up and saw that he was standing in the shadow of the branches. The waning sunlight cast an eerie glow against the pine needles, putting shadow everywhere, even on the top of the tree.

He heard a muffled laugh and whipped his head from side to side, trying to find the source of this humor. He would destroy it, he would rip out the guts of whoever was-

Nico dropped from the shadow of the tree with his sword extended from his body. He dove straight toward the ground, the point of his blade aiming straight toward the pupil of the cyclops' startled eye. Alphaeus tried to turn his head away, but Nico fell on him, his sword piercing through the cyclops' skull.

"Idiot." Nico said.

The cyclops exploded into millions of tiny, golden dust particles, swarming around his face. Nico fell off the monster as his essence drifted toward the ground. He landed on top of the golden fleece as the wind was knocked out of him. He struggled for over a minute, trying to recover from his fall. When he did recover, though, he smiled. He wiped away the greasy dust from his face and stood, picking up the fleece. He wondered why it didn't heal Alphaeus' injured arm, but he supposed it would take a while for an injury like that to heal.

Nico reached up and grabbed the nearest branch. He lifted the heavy wool over his uninjured shoulder and started to climb the tree. He reached the top and placed it on the highest branch he could find. He was about to climb back down, but he suddenly had an idea. He picked up the fleece and draped it over his injured shoulder he wrapped it all the way around, making sure that all the sports were covered. Then he waited.

He started to feel a tingling in his arm, then a rush of energy as the golden fleece mended his shattered shoulder. He cried out in pain as he felt bones connect, tendons mend themselves, and skin stitch itself back up.

He waited a moment, then he put the fleece back on the branch and started to climb down. And then he heard the horn.

He looked up in the sky to see thousands of birds. They flocked the sky like sand on the beach, and they seemed to be coming from the edge of the woods.

Nico shielded his eyes, and from his vantage point, saw that they were not birds at all. They were humans. Tiny, three foot humans with wings. He spotted guns strapped to their waists and helmets on their heads.

And then he saw some come on foot. These were midgets, but they had long tangly beards that reached to the bottom of their chests. Most of them wielded knives, shovels, or pickaxes, but he saw some wielded actual weapons. They had guns, too.

The rest of everything after the midgets were blurry, but then he realized that some were camouflaged. He watched as a lizard-like creature set its body on fire and blew smoke out of its nostrils. The rest of the camouflaged creatures behind him also lit up their bodies and blew smoke out of their nostrils.

And then he sensed spirits. Or rather, demons. These were unlike any demons he had encountered before. They wielded weapons, but he sensed one of them with magic. Strong magic. Enough to maybe stop the army from advancing.

Nico grinned and relaxed his body. He crossed his arms over his chest and fell from the tree, landing in a shadow far below on the ground.

**A/N: The line "Is that as fast as you can run," came from a comedian named Michael Junior. Look him up for me, and comment when you do. Review and tell me if you liked this chapter. Also, tell me how I can improve the story and my writing.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I know not many people are reviewing this story, but really, this is for my own pleasure. I know there's at least one person out there who's still reading. **

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

Annabeth blinked. The Laistrygonian she stood before was tall, blue, and had multiple stuffed animals strapped to his belt. His deep rumbling voice echoed across the small distance between them.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" the Laistrygonian asked again. He hefted his club and waved it in the air. Snow appeared on the ground around him, and he stooped low to grab up a clump in his hands. He patted the snow until it was a ball, and placed it near his foot. He gathered up another clump of snow.

"Um, no. I'm sorry, but...I can't build a snowman right now." Annabeth stepped out of the ring of snow and brushed her hair out of her face. She usually wore it in a ponytail, but it had fell out during he fighting.

She and the giant were a ways off: on the outskirts of the strawberry field. The sun was setting, and the fairies had already come out of the portal and were attempting to help them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leo leading a team of goblins deeper and deeper into the approaching army. He had gotten immediate respect from them when they learned what he could do with fire. They were in awe of him, and treated him like their master.

They giant sat down in the snow and shrugged his shoulders. "No one has time for fun anymore."

Annabeth thought about what the giant had said. She realized he was right. Everyone was always fighting, always arguing with one another.

Annabeth sighed and sat down next to the giant. She was tired. She had been fighting for four hours, and she hadn't had a bit of rest since the hotel. She was bruised and cut in many places, and her clothes had holes in them.

"Why are you building snowmen?" she asked after a minute.

The Laistrygonian continued to make giant snowballs and stack them on top of each other. He finished making his fifth one before he answered her.

"Because war is not fun."

Annabeth looked up into the giant's deep blue eyes. He stared right back at her. He seemed to be looking into her very soul, trying to determine what she was worth.

Annabeth looked down. "You're a very old Laistrygonian," she said. She could tell by the wisdom in his eyes and the scars on his hide that he had survived much. He had probably never even regenerated before.

"I am," he said.

Annabeth watched in fascination as he made a small army of snowmen. He breathed over them and they came to life, dancing around in circles and twirling around each other in a mesmerizing game of tag.

"Are you going to fight?" Annabeth finally said. She kept her eyes glued to the snowmen, too tired to do anything else. One of them danced out of the circle of snow and instantly turned into a puddle on the ground.

The frost giant sighed. "Life has to end sometime." He waved his hand over the rest of the snowmen, and they grew still and melted into puddles of water on the ground. "But it doesn't always have to end in a fight."

"So is that a no?"

The Laistrygonian picked himself off the ground. "No. I will fight. But not in the way you would think."

Annabeth waited for an answer, but the giant just pointed at the snow and it disappeared, soaking into the ground. He dusted his stuffed animals off and pointed at one.

"Want an animal?"

Annabeth lifted herself off the ground, too. She wiped the seat of her pants off with the back of her hand and said, "What good would it do me? Stuffed animals can't fight."

"No, but it gives you something to think about."

Annabeth lifted one of her eyebrows. "Think about? Like what?"

"Like whether or not fighting is the best option."

And what would you have me do? Make peace with Gaea? Give up?"

The giant unhooked a small Minotaur from his belt. He held it out to Annabeth.

"No. Realize that your enemies may not want to fight. Realize the good in them and they will see the good in themselves. They will see the good in the world, and they will come to see that they are not evil. Nothing is truly evil."

Annabeth took the Minotaur from the giant. She looked at its small horns and fingered the small war ax strapped to its back. It looked kinda cute, in a way. It reminded her of the Minotaur Percy had defeated twice now, and she smiled. She felt the horns on the small doll. She looked into its brown eyes, and she noticed it portrayed the real monster almost exactly. There was a hint of rage, madness, and fear in the doll. It hated itself. The man hated the bull part, and the bull hated the man part. She also sensed sorrow in it. Deep sorrow, like the sadness you can only get after losing everyone and everything you knew. It had lived countless lives, and it had suffered countless deaths. It was a hardened warrior, and the only thing keeping it alive was its madness.

She looked back up. "Thank you." she said, but no one was there. Only the faint smell of coldness filled the air.

She smiled sadly and clipped the Minotaur doll on her belt. She turned around and started to walk back to the Big House, where she knew Artemis Fowl would be.

Butler shielded his eyes with his arm. The monsters were receding quickly, and they only had a bit longer until they where out of the camp's borders. He had heard what Nico had done-he had returned the golden fleece back to its original resting spot in the tree that protected the camp, providing a boundary line again that the monsters could not cross.

Butler pulled his mace out of the dirt with a hard tug. The ground seemed to be compacting itself together tighter and tighter. He could barely move the dirt with the tip of his shoes, but it did give better traction, so Butler was grateful for that.

Half of the Romans had joined up with the Ares cabin and Frank. They sensed he was the new praetor, and they obeyed his every command without a second thought, knowing that the fate of the world depended on their obedience.

Butler was amazed by the boy's leadership skills. He had possessed the same gift when he was Frank's age: Able to make people follow you on a whim that you knew what you were doing.

Butler had joined up with Frank after defeating several monsters. One of them had given him a nasty gash across his back, but he ignored the pain and trudged over to Frank, who was giving commands to a battalion of Roman soldiers.

"...and lead them away from the boundaries, no matter what the cost! The world depends on you, so go and complete your duties in honor!" The battalion gave a weak cheer and marched to the front battle lines as quickly as they could, slaying a monster every time one got close to them.

Butler stood close by Frank. He was two heads taller than the boy, but he was still impressed with his size and muscle. He could have easily passed for a quarterback.

"How are we doing?" Butler asked. He kept his sword out. They were in a small clearing about a hundred yards ahead of the advancing monsters.

"We've almost got them behind the borders," Frank replied. He cast a side glance at Butler and said, "We should probably kill the remaining two leaders, though. Gaea controls the monsters through the leaders, and if we kill the leaders, we might sever her connection with them."

Butler thought for a moment, then said, "She would probably choose three new leaders, though."

"Yeah, but if we kill the second in commands, too, she'll have a harder time of controlling them."

Butler hesitated, then he said, "You're in charge."

Frank nodded. "I am. And I say that you help me defeat them."

Butler looked down at the young demigod. "Is that an order?"

"Yes."

Butler smiled. "Then I say let's do this."

Frank raised an eyebrow when he saw the first one. Then he coughed in his elbow and said, "You go this one, big guy."

"That...thing?"

"Yes. That thing."

"Why? Are you too chicken?"

Frank scowled and pointed with an arrow he had picked up from the ground. "This one's yours." He shoved the arrow into his quiver and strapped it onto his back.

Butler pulled his broadsword from his belt and trudged up to the monster. It was a chicken with the face of a woman. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head, which made her facial features even more noticeable. She had a sharp nose, brown eyes, and thin lips.

From what Butler gleaned from what Artemis told him, this was a harpy. Artemis said something completely different from chicken-woman, but that's what Butler dubbed her as soon as he looked at her. He figured this would be a fast and easy one, and might even get him a bit of fried chicken when he was done.

As soon as the harpy saw him she screeched and flew away. She receded into the air and stayed there for a few moments. She looked around at the fighting monsters and snarled. Everyone was busy, and there was no one to guard her. She was chosen by Gaea for her brains, not her brawn, and she intended to use them whenever needed.

Butler thrust his sword into the air and yelled, "Come down, you beast, and face me!"

The harpy cackled and settled a few yards in front of him. "And why would I face _you, _giant? You have more strength than I will ever have."

Butler let his sword rest against his leg. "I may have more strength than you, but you may be smarter than me. Is that correct?"

"It is so." the harpy said. She fluttered her wings and showed her sharp teeth. "I have no brawn in my bones. I was chosen by Gaea for my cunning."

"Hmm..." Butler said. He thought for a while, then came up with an idea. "How about we play a game. Loser surrenders to the other side."

The harpy jutted out her chin. She set her jaw and said, "What kind of game?"

Butler grinned. "A mind game, of course. What else? Though you will surely win. I have no doubts of that."

"And how do we play?"

Butler told her the rules. "One tries to scare the other out of the game, but not by physical means. You can't make faces and you can't touch the other player."

The harpy squinted at him. "So all I have to do is scare you, and you will surrender?"

"Yes," Butler said, and then he thought of something. "Say, what's your name, anyway?"

"The name's Stitchy. You can call me master, though."

Butler nodded and said, "I'm Butler." He stuck out his hand to shake, because he had always been taught growing up to be polite to all women, no matter how they looked.

Stitchy scrunched up her nose and spat at him. "Don't touch me, you freak."

Butler retreated and wiped his hands on his pants. "Okay, since you're so kind, you can go first." He motioned with his other hand. "Go on. Scare me."

The harpy hesitated, then she opened her mouth, as if to burp. Her eyes grew large; large enough that Butler could have fit his whole fist inside one. Her fangs grew sharper and longer, and her hair turned blood-red. Her feathers turned a deep shade of black, and so did under her eyes. Her ears grew shorter until they were gone. She opened her mouth and screamed.

"SQUUUAAWWWK!"

Butler watched her scream at him for over a minute. He refastened his sword to his belt and smoothed out his tattered suit. He rubbed his near-bald head and coughed into his hand.

When Stitchy was done, her cheeks deflated like a balloon and they sagged to her chest. Her hair and feathers returned to their normal color, and the area under her eyes lightened up. Her eyes shrunk, and her mouth did too. Her cheeks slowly receded back up into their original positions, and Stitchy panted for breath.

Butler let her recover, then said, "I said you could go first. Start already. I don't have all day."

Stitchy looked up at him and her lips tightened. "Your turn. Good luck to scaring me, though."

Butler walked over to the harpy and looked down. She stared right back at him with defiance. He kneeled next to her so he could put his mouth by her ear.

"I said this was a mind game, Stitchy."

The harpy scowled at him. "And what are you going to do? You have to much strength to have any brains in that bald head of yours."

"That's where your wrong," he said, and leaned closer to her ear. He whispered something, and her eyes grew wide. He continued to talk, and she started to screech.

"NO!" she yelled. "NO!"

Frank watched with amazement as the harpy started running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off. She stopped suddenly and burst into a cloud of golden dust, covering the ground where Butler was kneeling.

Butler got up and went over to Frank. He dusted the monster gunk off his suit and said, "Your turn."

They managed to travel another mile before coming to a stop in front of the biggest monster they had ever seen. It was a giant sheep with sharp fangs and bloodshot eyes. It's wool was pure white; it reflected the sun with such intensity that they had to shield their eyes.

Butler reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He had forgotten they were there; Artemis always made him carry them in case of fairy emergencies. They were mirrored-like Artemis's-and they were near unbreakable.

He settled the glasses over his eyes and looked up at the sheep. He could see it more clearly now than before.

Butler sensed that this was an intelligent being. It wasn't smart, but it could probably understand them.

"Hello up there!" Butler called out. The sheep did nothing. He tried again. "Hello! Please surrender now or suffer the consequences!"

This time the sheep looked down. It cocked it's head at them and snarled. "Who are you to try and best me?" it boomed.

Butler came up to about the middle of the sheep's leg. It was like a giant walking carpet that reflected the sun. It's voice was low but loud, and the sheep barely moved it's mouth.

Again Butler thought of his stomach. He had wanted fried chicken earlier, but he didn't know the harpy would explode when he said what he did. He thought she would just die like regular people did.

"I be Butler!" Butler called out. "And this be Frank!" He pointed to the half-blood beside him, and Frank looked at him quizzically.

"You shall die slowly, Butler and Frank." The sheep hissed. It stuck out it's purple tongue as if to lick them, but then pulled it back in. It hissed again. "I've been wanting a meal for a while, now. You shall do nicely." It licked it's chops.

"Your go, Frank."

Frank turned into a dragon and breathed fire on the sheep. The sheep hissed, burned, and tumbled into a large pile of white wool on the ground.

"That was quick." Butler said.

Frank turned back to normal. "This wool will be good for a nice sweater." He nudged it with the toe of his boot. "And...I think we're done."

Butler nodded. "Now for the second in commands."

Holly pried off her new helmet and chunked it at a monster. She was getting tired of Foaly and his new creations.

When asked about her helmet, she had told the centaur that he had messed it up and that it was impossible to get off without the help of a screwdriver. He had been mortified, and said it was impossible for him to make a mistake. He had then insisted that Holly wear one of the older helmets, so that he could keep in contact with her.

He had also given her a new set of wings, which was good, because Holly was tired of running to catch up with the human's long strides. It was much easier to fly.

The helmet bounced off a empusa's head and shattered one of the Gaea monsters. She had never seen anything like the Gaea monsters before. They were made of clay and they never seemed to stop coming out of the ground. She wondered where Gaea got the power from to make all of these dolls. Gaea must have been near-awake to create this much destruction.

Holly shot ten more monsters with her Neutrino. It was on kill setting, so she didn't have to worry about stunning them for a half-hour and then have them wake up and continue to attack,

Foaly gave her a new helmet, suit, gun, and wings. It was kind of him, she thought, but really she knew he wanted to be a part of the action himself. His wife, Caballine, had made him stay in Haven. They were expecting a child, and she wanted him alive to see it.

Holly flew up and headed to the Big House. She landed on the steps and walked up to the porch. She knocked on the door, and a satyr let her in.

Chiron, Percy, and Artemis were discussing something with Annabeth. It looked like a heated argument, and she could sense like Percy was about to blow. Somehow, though, he remained his cool.

"Doesn't it make sense, though, to do what Annabeth says? I mean, I know Laistrygonians aren't know for their wits, but...Annabeth has never been wrong before. I say we do what she says and go for it." Percy clenched his jaw and sat down in one of the chairs that formed a corner of the triangle they were sitting in.

The fireplace crackled in the background. Holly wondered why they kept a fire going during a war, but then again this was supposed to be a magical place. She figured that they could keep a fire going for a thousand years if they wanted to.

Chiron turned at the sound of her footsteps. His eyes brightened, if only for a brief second, but he said, "Holly! Please join us." He nodded at a love seat that Artemis was sitting in facing the door.

Chiron had somehow managed to fit himself on the couch. He looked like a normal human, but she could tell he sat with fake legs instead of his horsey ones.

Annabeth sat beside him on the sofa, and Percy was to her left on a different chair. She noticed they were all tenses, except for Artemis, who was deep in thought.

She plopped down beside the Mud Boy. "So, what are we talking about?" she asked. She noticed Artemis had taken his mirrored sunglasses off, and was rubbing his temples.

"Annabeth has told us some rather interesting news." Chiron said. He cleared his throat. "She says that we can defeat Gaea's army not by strength, but by will."

Annabeth interrupted. "But we still have to fight. But while we're fighting we can get the monsters to understand that they don't have to fight, that they have free will." She trailed off and looked at Percy, who rested his chin in his hand.

Holly looked around at the group and raised her eyebrows. "You've got to be kidding me," she said. She watched as Chiron shook his head slowly. He mimicked Artemis by rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"No, Annabeth does have a point. All monsters have a free will, but they choose to be ruled by someone else." He lifted his eyes to meet Holly's. "Somehow, though, they believe Gaea's lie that she is controlling them. They believe it so much that they take it for truth, and they let her control them/"

Holly nudged Artemis. He finally looked up and stopped rubbing his temples. "We will try. We can't lose anything from this, so I don't see why not." He steepled his fingers and rest his elbow on his knees. "I have heard word that the three leaders are down, and that Butler and Frank are tracking the second in commands. If we can convince them that they have free will, they will spread the word and the monsters just might believe them. They might turn away from the war, or they could continue to fight, just because they want to. But either way, it will get better or worse from here on out. I say we take this chance and try and let the monsters escape. We do not want them dead. We want Gaea dead." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

They all thought on Artemis's words. What he said was true: They could do nothing and the war would get worse, or they could do something and the war would get better. Everyone thought on this, and they all came to the same conclusion. They did not want the monsters dead, as Artemis had said, but they wanted Gaea dead. She was the one who could destroy the world, not the monsters.

"I say yes."

Everyone turned to look at Percy. Then they mustered up their courage, and they all agreed on one thing: That they could somehow get the monsters to be their allies.


	10. Chapter 10

Artemis walked through the battlefield slowly, Holly at his side. Butler, Frank, and Nico it seemed had managed to take out the main leaders. Butler had also managed to capture two of the second in commands, and Nico had caught the third.

Someone tried to stab him. Holly shot him.

It was nighttime, and torches burned around him with Greek fire. The faries and demigods had killed hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters, but still they kept coming. It didn't look like they had put a dent in the army, but Artemis knew how to make them fall to their knees and plead for mercy.

Two cyclopes tried to club him, but Holly killed one and stunned another. The cyclops that she stunned was over eight feet tall, but he flew more than thirty feet backward from the blast.

Artemis took his time walking over to the monster. When he did, he knelt down near the monsters crisp head and whispered into his ear. "You are free. You have always been free. Get up and spread the word."

The cyclops tried to groan, but Artemis put his hand on his chest.

"What's your name?"

"I..." The cyclops struggled with his words, then turned his head so see could see Artemis. "Who are you?" he grunted.

"I am Artemis Fowl, and I want to help you." He looked into the cyclops's huge brown eye and repeated his question: "What is your name?"

The cyclops seemed suspicious of him, but he said, "My name is Byon." He reached for his club, but Artemis stopped him. "Let me up," he begged. "If you're going to help me, let me up."

Artemis picked himself up and dusted off his knees. The giant pushed himself off the ground, staggered a bit, and hefted up his club.

Artemis watched him, and Byon watched Artemis. He slowly lowered his club and attached it to his belt.

The cyclops had no hair and no shirt or shoes. He wore XXXL trousers and a brown leather belt. His dirty nails were the size of potato chips and his teeth were brown. Overall, Artemis figured he was a young cyclops; if measured for a human, he would be in his mid-twenties.

"You kill my companion and knocked me backwards. Why should I trust you?"

Holly cleared her throat. "You were coming at us with a club three times my size. I wouldn't just stand there and let you kill Arty."

Artemis gave her a side glance, but she shrugged off his look. She could call the Mud Boy anything she wanted to. They had gone through life and death together, and she figured 'Why not'? _Life can't get any worse than it already is._

"You give a good point." He fingered the edge of his club. "But why shouldn't I kill you right now?"

Artemis spoke up. "Because you want to listen to us. If you hadn't wanted to, we wouldn't be standing here talking right now." The cyclops scrutinized him.

"Who are you?"

"I've told you before. My name is Artemis Fowl II. I am here to help you."

"Yes, but why?" the cyclops asked. "Why would any mortal try and help a monster? We've been enemies for millennium."

Artemis studied Byon. "You are most eloquent for a cyclops. I take it you didn't grow up on the streets?"

"No," the cyclops growled, "but I'm better than any you'll find out there. I was raised by a Titan himself."

Artemis shifted his posture. "To answer you question, Byon, I would help you because you've been downgraded for years. You started out as a good race, the monsters, but you were corrupted by Gaea. And the Titans. And the gods. They used you to fight their wars over petty disputes, and gradually, over the centuries, it became your habit. You were cast back down into Tartarus, even after you had won all those wars. And you got angry. And you rebelled because the gods couldn't keep their word."

"No one should be treated the way we were."

"No. They shouldn't. That is why I am making you an offer." Byon looked down at him with newfound interest, as if watching a boring old dog suddenly talk.

"Yes?"

"Fight with us. Against Gaea. She started it all; she sired the Titans and corrupted them, and in turn some of that corruption rubbed off onto the gods. So I'm asking you: Will your race fight with us? The demigods, monsters, and faries all working together to restore order to the world?"

Byon hesitated, then said, "I do not speak for all monsters, but I speak for my legion. I am second in command, and now in first, of the Third Legion. We will fight with you, Artemis Fowl, and we may be able to convince the other monsters to fight with us."

Artemis nodded his head, a grim smile on his face. "Thank you, Byon, for your cooperation."

Byon unclipped his club from his belt. "Now that one-third of the monsters are on your side, what are you going to do next?"

Artemis thought it was a good question, and deserved answering. "I'm going to rally every being capable of fighting together, and fight against Gaea. Our goal right now is to stop her from spilling blood on Olympus. If that happens, she will rise, and we may have no hope left."

The cyclops nodded and hefted his weapon. "I'll go tell the other...monsters. They will follow me no matter what; Gaea made it so." He nodded once, and ran off to go find his legion.

Holly watched the back of the receding cyclops. Finally, she said, "Wow. Artemis, you just convinced a third of the monsters to your cause." She looked up into his face. He was grim. "But really, what are you going to do next?"

"Me?" Artemis said. "I'm going to do just as I said. I have a different plan for the demigods, though." He watched Byon trudge down the hill, and then vanish from sight.

"And what might that plan, be, Artemis?"

"They will bring down the sky."

Percy had lost count of how many times he had seen Mt. Tam hovering over San Francisco Bay. Fighting Atlas. Coming out of the Labyrinth. In his dreams. Either way, he could never get over the fact that it housed one of the strongest and biggest Titans who ever lived. And he was stuck under the sky.

Percy had listened to Artemis's plan, disagreed with it, and then listened to his arguments. He had to admit: That boy was convincing. If anyone could convince the monsters to turn, it was Artemis Fowl II.

Percy had grabbed Mrs. O' Leary from the battle and shadow-traveled to San Francisco. Unfortunately, though, it took away a lot of her energy. She was already weary from the battle, so he let her sleep in front of a coffee shop. He almost felt bad for the person who tried to step outside to get to his car.

He borrowed the man's convertible-which was wet from Mrs. O' Leary's tongue-and drove to Mt. Tamalpais, the dense night air whipping back his hair. He watched the Golden Gate Bridge fade into the distance as he passed under the shadow of a tree.

_WHOOSH!_

Percy pressed the brakes as hard as he could and came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. He looked to his right. Nico was sitting in the passenger seat, already buckled up, his stygian iron sword strapped to his belt.

"So," he said, "where are we going?"

Percy's jaw fell open in shock, then he shook it off. "What are you doing her, Nico?"

The corner of his mouth lifted. "I saw you leave with Mrs. O' Leary. Turns out Artemis already has part of the monster army under control, and I figured you could use some help."

"How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much of the army does Artemis have under control?"

"About one-third of it." Nico said. "He's working on the others right now as we speak, but it looks like it'll be easy to convince them."

Percy scrunched his eyebrows together. "Well, I'm going up to Mt. Tamalpais. Artemis told me we need the sky to touch the Earth, for some reason. He said something about Ouranos."

Nico nodded. "Sounds like a better plan than I could come up with." He pointed toward the road. "Drive."

Percy stepped on the gas, and the car surged forward. If he still had time for cars, he would say this was a pretty cool one. It was painted bright red and had flames tattooed on either side; the one disadvantage about it, though, was that the tires were pink.

Nico looked over the side of the convertible. "Nice car. Did you pick this one out yourself?"

Percy sighed. "It was the only one available at the time."

They drove up the mountain, and Percy spotted the place where he, Thalia, and his huntress friend had got hit by lightning. He shuddered and looked away. The smell of cough drops filled the air, and Percy cringed at the smell. The dragon, Ladon, ate Eucalyptus leaves to cover up his vulgar breath. It didn't work.

Nico scrunched up his nose. "What is that smell? It smells like a cough drop factory died here."

"Eucalyptus leaves."

"Why are there so many of them, though?"

Percy repeated what Zo had once told him before. "You'd eat them too if your breath smelled that bad."

"What? Whose breath?"

"You'll see." He pushed the pedal to the floorboard and the car zoomed around the side of the mountain.

Nico's normally pale face was now a dark shade of green. Percy had never seen the young demigod get sick, and he had no intentions to.

"You okay over there, Nico?" Percy grinned when Nico stuck his head out of the car and heaved.

Nico sat up and wiped his mouth. "No, I am not okay. Who would want to even eat these leaves, much less smell them?"

Percy pulled up at the top of the mountain and stopped the engine. He opened the door and stepped out of the car. "He would."

Nico turned to where Percy was pointing at and his eye twitched. A dragon with a hundred heads was peacefully snoring around an apple tree. On closer inspection, Nico saw that the tree grew golden apples, not regular ones.

"Is the...Garden of the Hesperides?"

"The same."

"But why are we here? Do we need to kill the dragon to get to Atlas?" Nico asked.

"No, but we need to be quiet when we walk around him. Or else...you know."

Nico studied the dragon with greater interest than before. A look of recognition swept across his face. "Is that Ladon?"

Percy nodded. "You know him?"

"I've heard about him in myths...he guards the golden apples, right?"

"Yeah. But we didn't come here for that. Let's go."

They slowly crawled around the dragon and the giant apple tree that he guarded. Nico felt a tugging sensation toward the apples, but he ignored it and kept on silently walking. The pull of the apples felt familiar, like the pomegranates Persephone grew in the underworld.

They managed to get around Ladon with success, and only until they were farther up the hill did Nico let out his breath. They stopped near a boulder and sat down.

Percy spotted the place where Zo passed into the stars. He felt a surge of sadness, and he turned his head.

"Let's go." he said, and lifted himself from the rock and trudged up the mountain.

Nico followed Percy until they came to a stop at the very top of the mountain. They could here Atlas's wails and groans, and Percy almost felt sorry for the Titan. Then he remembered what he had done to his life and determination filled him

"Atlas!" Percy called out.

The groaning stopped, and the Titan turned his head.

"Percy Jackson? What are you doing here? Come to take the burden off my shoulders, I hope?"

"Kind of." Atlas raised an eyebrow.

"Kind of?" He grunted under the weight of the sky.

"Yeah. Um...Atlas, I give you permission to release the sky."

Lightning filled the night sky, and thunder shook the mountain. Atlas cringed, and studied Percy carefully.

"You know what this means, don't you, you demigod?"

"Yes. I do. But you must swear by the River Styx not to hurt anybody, unless I tell you to."

Atlas took forever to say anything back. "This burden is awfully large. I would hate to drop it." He heaved his shoulders and pushed his feet into the ground. "But, I abide by your terms, Percy Jackson. I swear it by the River Styx."

Lightning struck a second time, and thunder sounded again. Atlas gave one mighty surge, and he threw the sky.

The sky sailed three feet higher, and Atlas jumped out of the way. "Come on, you fools!" He grabbed Percy and Nico and threw them off the mountain. He paused for a fraction of a second and jumped after them, falling hundreds of feet to the ground below.


	11. Chapter 11

**I think the Artemis Fowl fans might like the ending for this chapter.**

As Nico fell off the side of the mountain, he suddenly understood Artemis's plan. A big grin fill his face, and he reached for Percy's arm.

"Percy! Grab hold!"

Percy frantically looked around at Nico, his hair whipping up from the wind.

"What!" he yelled.

"Grab my arm!"

Percy suddenly realized that this was the cliff Luke was thrown off of.

Percy didn't hesitate, just did as Nico asked. Percy held on and braced for impact, but there was none. The ground surged forward, and Nico straightened his body. And they fell into the shadow of the mountain from the light of the moon.

Meanwhile, Atlas was flailing about. Why had he helped those demigods, or even thrown _himself _offthe cliff, for Zeus's sake? He would never know. He didn't have much time to live. The sky was falling.

Just as he reached the ground, a giant black heap of fur leapt at him from out of the face of the cliff. Atlas yelped, and the animal clung to his back. He squinted his eyes shut tight, but he felt the _whoosh_ of a shadow as he passed through it.

Leo had just about enough of the goblins. Sure, they obeyed him and like his super-powers, but they had no brains at all. And they smelled.

"Thisss will never work out, my lord." hissed a goblin.

"Yes it will, Gorganth. You just have to see." Leo spun around and shot at an empusa, and she crumbled to dust, leaving the faint smell of burnt hair and perfume in the air.

"But how will we convinsse the monssterss, m'lord?" Gorganth licked his eyeballs.

"We convinced you, didn't we?" He burnt down a few Gaea-monsters, who where endlessly rising out of the ground.

The goblin looked confused. He cocked his head, thought for a while, then decided not to worry about it. It would just hurt his head.

"Yesss!"

Leo turned to where Gorganth was looking and saw a giant. It was a regular one, but it wasn't like the giants he had fought before, which were nearly thirty feet tall. This one was only ten feet. He could take it. Easy.

Leo fumbled around in his toolbelt and produced his hammer. He had made a few modifications to it, so he didn;t have to use fire alone.

Gorganth hissed one more time and shot a flaming ball of fire over Leo's shoulder. Leo flinched, then raised his hammer and charged.

This time, instead of coating his hammer in flames like he did in the battle in Ireland, he pressed a button on the shaft. Instantly, the hammer head got wider and it began to weigh more. Leo smiled grimly, then he shoved the weighted hammer into the giant's belly.

The giant said "Oomph!" and clutched his stomach. He picked his eyes off the ground and stared at Leo with cold fury. He hefted his club and tried to smack him aside, but Leo pressed another button and a sharp celestial blade popped out of the head of the hammer, long enough to pierce the giant in the stomach.

The giant went "Umph!" and collapsed into a pile of dust.

Gorganth shot another fireball at the pile for good measure. It did nothing but smoke.

Leo turned around to face the goblin. "Why did you say 'yes'?"

The goblin cocked his head, licked his eyeballs, and stared at Leo. "I liked hiss club."

Leo rolled his eyes and pointed to a squadron of fighting goblins. "Go fight with them. They need help."

"Really?" The goblin's eyes lit up. "They need me?"

"No, you-yes, they need you! Now go! They need your help!" Gorganth bared his teeth in what Leo thought was supposed to be a smile, and ran off, jumping over small monsters to get to his squadron.

Leo sighed. One left. One more battalion to go and they would have all the monsters on their side. Artemis had contacted him via Iris message-which freaked Leo out how he knew to do that-and said that they had captured the second of the second-in-commands: an empusa named Goldie. Goldie had then pushed Artemis out of the way and gave Leo a cheerleader-hello, which consisted of doing several backflips and waving pom-poms around.

After introducing herself, Artemis pushed Goldie out of the way and continued. He said that it had taken some convincing and a little mesmerizing-Leo didn't know what that meant, but Artemis explained it was like charmspeak-but they had gotten Goldie under control and Hazel was now after the third second-in-command on Arion.

Leo spotted Hazel on Arion, zipping across the plains, searching for the third leader. The fighting of the third battalion was futile, he knew, but the monsters never gave up when put to a task.

Leo looked around him. He had slaughtered...Zeus knows how many. He didn't know. It was impossible to count them, but he knew that it had been hundreds, mostly the Gaea-monsters.

Leo turned to look where the Gaea-monsters were coming from. There was a big hole in the middle of the strawberry field-it looked like a volcano was forming. Out of the hole rose hundreds of clay dolls about eh size of humans. When they opened their mouths, they had sharp brown teeth that could pierce even the most durable armor. Their brown fingernails were stretched out and flat, and they reminded him of miniature spears.

They would stop at nothing, and their only weakness was their fragileness. They could rip through metal, but a simple stone could shatter them.

The dwarves and Jason and Piper were in charge of ridding them from the battleground. Leo had heard that the dwarves ate mud for food and pooped mud for earth. Which was good, he supposed, because nothing was better against a mud army than an army of mud-eating dwarves.

He marched back to the Big House, where the Argo II was getting its finishing touches. Cyclops worked on the hull of the ship, repairing it to its former beauty and restoring its size and strength. Leo was glad for the help of the cyclops'. They were master forgers, and even better craftsmen. They listened to him because they respected his father, Hephaestus, the god of the forge. They also had respect for Percy, because his father was the Poseidon, who sired most of the cyclops'. Leo shuddered as he realized that somehow, all the monsters ever created, including the cyclops', were related to him somehow. He decided not to think about it, and he approached the ship.

"How's it going?" he yelled to one the cyclops'.

"Almost finished!" he yelled back. "Just setting up support!"

Leo nodded and walked around the side of the ship, where there were no torches.

Suddenly, two bodies flew at him from out of the side of the ship. They were shooting like cannonballs, and they collided with him and he lost his balance.

"Whoa!" he yelled. The two bodies covered him, and they landed in a dog pile on the ground.

"Ugh," groaned Percy, "I think I broke my spine."

Nico yanked himself off the ground and stood up. "Get up, now!" He pulled Percy to his feet and helped Leo up. Leo dusted his pants off.

"What the-"

"Move!"

Nico shoved him, and he almost tripped. He sprinted a good distance away and looked back. Percy was running behind him, and Nico was following behind, looking over his shoulder.

Leo thought he heard a silent _WHOOSH!, _like a whisper. A black hellhound the size of a truck tumbled out of the shadows in the side of his ship, and a huge man with muscles rippling over his body followed suit. They toppled to the ground in a giant heap, and the hellhound yipped. The giant's head had landed comically on Mrs. O' Leary's stomach, making her look like a giant dog-shaped pillow.

"Errmph."

Atlas lifted his head and let the hellhound go. She stood up drunkenly and hobbled over to Percy, who scratched her under the chin in amazement.

"Hey, Mrs. O' Leary. You okay?" The giant dog gave a small whimper and flopped to the ground at her master's feet, exhausted.

"Atlas?" Nico asked. "Will you help us?"

Atlas lifted his head up and propped it up against his arm. "Is that a command, young demigod?"

"Yes." Nico growled. "You will help us."

"Very well." The Titan said, and got to his feet. "I will help you fight, but not after a good meal. I'm starving."

Leo figured holding up the sky for years without rest would make you pretty hungry, and to his amazement, he heard himself saying, "Follow me. I'll take you to the pavilion."

Atlas raised an eyebrow at him and looked him over. "You're a scrawny little fellow, aren't you?"

Leo scowled. "Are you hungry or not?"

"Yes, I'm hungry," Atlas said. "Take me to your feeder."

Leo left with an angry look on his face. He had already figured that this giant of a man was the Titan, Atlas, who held up the sky. He had also started to figure out some of Artemis's plan, and he wondered what was happening at Mt. Tamalpais right now.

Hazel found the last second-in-command fast enough. She was zipping around on Arion, her horse, looking for something peculiar, when all of a sudden she heard a loud whistle.

Hazel turned to the source of noise and headed Arion in the direction she heard it come from. Arion thundered across the ground at an unnatural speed, and they ended up right in front of a giant bird.

Hazel wondered who thought up these kind of monsters, and if this was some sort of joke.

She saw a certain smartness in the bird's eyes, but it wasn't like the kind humans had. This bird couldn't speak, like most monsters could. Gaea had chosen this as the second-in-command merely for its animalistic behavior. It would follow a master, but only with a bribe.

"Hey, birdie." she said cautiously. It cocked its head at her and she continued. "Want a treat?"

The bird screamed at her and tilted its head upside down like an owl.

It was about three Franks and one Butler tall, with black and red feathers mixed into its hide and sharp talons that pierced the ground every time it moved. It smelled like pigeon poop, and Hazel tried to remember where she had smelled that before.

In the end, Hazel bribed it with a few gold bars attached to a rope on Arion's back. She had found the rope at the camp, and thought it might come in handy. It did.

She rode Arion back to the Big House, and he snorted from how slow she was making him go. The bird hopped behind them, and they got to the edge of the strawberry field, where she found a fairy waiting for her.

"Hello." she said to the short man standing in front of her. He was three feet tall, and he had mechanical wings strapped to his back. He had his helmet under his arm, and the visor was up. He had a military haircut, and he looked uneasy. "Um...you looked troubled. Can I help you?"

The fairy raised both his eyebrows at that. "Why, yes I am. How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"My name." He studied her, then said, 'My name is Trouble. Trouble Kelp, that is. Pleased to meet you." He thrust his arm forward, and Hazel leaned down low to shake his hand.

"Trouble? That's a funny name."

"And what's yours?"

"My name? My name's Hazel. Pleased to meet you." She let go of his gloved hand, and he set his helmet on the ground

"Hazel's a funny name, too." He looked over his shoulder at the Big House, then back at the battle, which was slowly going to a decrease. "You need help with that bird?"

The bird squawked in defiance at Trouble, then turned its gaze back to the gold, which was shining in the light of the torches lit by Greek fire.

The fairy stared at the gold, his eyes coated over with lust. Hazel had to wave her hand in front of his face to get him back.

"Hey!" she said. "You were saying something?"

Trouble ripped his eyes from the gold and his face turned crimson. "Sorry, faries are attracted to gold..." His eyes trailed off to the metal, and Hazel jumped down off of Arion and blocked his view.

"Interesting to know. Yeah, I need help with this bird. I hear that you faries could do something called mesmer eye-zing. Right?"

"Mesmerizing." he said. "You want me to make this bird obey you?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Trouble cracked his neck and popped all his stubby little fingers. "Then let's get to it." He stared up at the giant bird, and the bird stared back. His eyes seemed to turn a violet-pink color, and Hazel looked away. "You will obey this girl, understand?" The bird shuddered and squawked, and Trouble repeated his command. "You will obey this girl "

The bird nodded slowly and drunkenly, and Trouble's eyes lost their violet hue. The bird's beak fell to it's chest and it gave a short chirp. It stared at the gold, as if not believing it was even there.

Hazel felt for the bird. She had to admit it was an ethereal experience, meeting a fairy and being hypnotized by him. She almost felt sorry for it, bu she remembered what Trouble had said. She was in charge now.

"Does this mean that he'll listen to what I say now? Do anything I want him to?"

Trouble nodded. "He will obey your every command, and if he doesn't, his puny little bird-brain will burst." He lifted up his helmet and placed it firmly on his head. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Hazel," he said through the microphone, "but I really must go now. Those Gaea-whatevers need to be shot down, and it looks like you demigods don't use guns much. I'll be seeing you?"

Hazel nodded dumbly, and the fairy took off, but not without giving her a thumbs up.

She waited a few seconds, then let the gold sink back into the ground. The bird looked like it wanted to fly away, but it stayed, as if chained to her with invisible handcuffs.

She looked straight into the bird's beady little eyes and said, "Let's go. Remember what he said: Obey me." The bird stared her down, then hopped to her side and gave a deep, throaty croak.

Hazel ran to the Big House on Arion, and the bird flew overhead. She stopped when she saw Percy and Nico talking quietly about something.

"Hey," she called out, and rode up so Arion was towering over Nico. Nico looked up, and his hair tickled Arion's nose. The horse snorted, and Nico jumped.

Hazel laughed and Percy gave a grim chuckle. Nico wiped his hair with his hands and moved out of her way. "Stupid horse," he muttered.

Arion snorted, and Percy cringed. He stared at him a while more, and he grinned. "Arion has a very...imaginative way with his words. He says...he's not a stupid horse. Plus, it was _your_ hair tickling _his_ nose. You should feel sorry for him."

Nico looked disgusted, and he turned to his half-sister. "Atlas has arrived. We brought the sky down. We haven't heard anything yet, though."

"We should contact Artemis." Hazel said. "Does he know yet?"

"He probably does. You never know with him." Percy smiled at Arion and nodded. "He wants a snack. Says he's deserved it."

Hazel got down off of him and summoned the gold she was using to attract the bird. Two gold bars shot up through the dirt and stopped near the tips of Hazel's fingers. She took one and fed it to Arion, who whinnied in delight. "You were good today, Arion, but were not done yet." The horse whinnied in delight. He ignored her last comment and munched on the bars of gold like a dog eating a biscuit.

Hazel heard a long squawk from above, and she looked up to see the giant bird dive at the ground. He straightened out his wings at the last second and settled beside Hazel.

"What the-" Percy said.

"Is this the second-in-command?" Nico asked. He didn't even flinch when the bird pecked at the ground near his feet, looking for giant worms.

"Yes," Hazel said. "Apparently, Gaea's version of getting stronger is getting dumber, if this is what she puts in charge of her monsters. I almost feel sorry for them, taking orders from a bird."

"I don't." Percy said, staring at the bird. "It's better than taking orders directly from Gaea."

"So," Nico interrupted, "this is the last commander?" Hazel nodded. "Then okay. We should try and contact Artemis, like you said."

Hazel pointed at the Big House. "There might be something in there we could use for an Iris message." She was still amazed that they could contact each other that way. All these years, the Greeks had a form of communication that the Romans didn't know about.

Percy thought. "Yeah, I have something in mind." He started out for the Big House, and Hazel and Nico followed. The bird started to go after Hazel, but she held out her hand and he stayed.

No one was on the porch when they got there, and they sensed that no one was inside, either. Percy quietly opened the door and peeked around the corner. He then headed to the arcade room, where the ping-pong table was kept.

He searched through a cabinet in the corner of the room and produced a bottle of water and a large Bunsen Burner, which was battery powered.

He turned it on and waited for it to heat up. Surprisingly, the electricity still worked there, so he messed with the lights until he found the right angle for the mist to refract light through.

Once the burner was hot enough, Percy tossed the water onto it and said, "O Iris, show us Artemis Fowl, Half-Blood Hill, I think."

Nico fished around in his pocket and produced a drachma, which he threw into the small rainbow. The mist shifted, and they saw Artemis looking at his watch. Without looking up, he said, "Have you captured the third commander, Hazel?"

Hazel raise an eyebrow and said yes, she did indeed, and she had full control of it. Artemis asked how, and she told him that a fairy had mesmerized the bird for her. Artemis didn't question her about the bird part, just nodded his head and said, "That'll do. Round up all the demigods you can. Reyna and Octavius, too. I'll get Butler and Frank."

Artemis cut the connection, and Nico tossed in a few more drachmas. They told Jason and Piper to come, and they said they would be on their way. They told Atlas and Leo, who were finishing up eating. They also got Annabeth and Chiron, who were trying to fix the problem with the Gaea-monsters. They said they would be on their way, and that they would be there as quick as possible. Chiron said he sensed a Titan enter Camp Half-Blood, and Percy told him not to worry, it was okay.

They waited about a quarter of an hour before everyone was assembled. Once there, Reyna and Octavius glared at Jason and Leo, but they avoided looking at Frank, who they knew was a new praetor.

Hazel, Nico, Percy, and Atlas informed them what had occurred so far and their situation. Leo also revealed that his ship was ready to go, and inquired whether Artemis had a plan for him. Artemis nodded.

"I always have a plan, Leo, as I have told you before."

"Well don't leave us in the dark, Artemis. Tell us what it is."

Chiron studied Artemis with fascination. Here was a boy-a mere mortal-who practically knew everything about them, but they knew nothing about him. He had summoned a whole other three races to his side from out of nowhere, and it helped greatly in the war. The faries were very cooperative, and he was surprised to find out that Butler, whom he had trained in the art of the sword, had him as a principal. He figured Artemis was a dangerous person; he could tell right away that he always meant business. He had heard Artemis's stories from Butler, whose short version amazed him.

"You have taken the Hephaestus campers and the cyclops and had them forge bullets and cannonballs from the celestial bronze, correct?" Artemis glanced at his watch again. Chiron was instantly suspicious. Why was he always looking at the time?

"Yes. And what do you think I should do with them?"

"What do you think?" asked Artemis.

"I think you want me to shoot the Gaea-monsters down?"

"Is that your answer?"

Leo paused, then said, "Yes."

"Then you shall do as such. Also, find a way to plug the hole they're coming out of. Hazel and Nico, I think you should be capable of completing this task."

Nico flinched when Artemis said his name. The boy was as pale as he was, and he reminded him of a vampire. Dealing with the undead all the time, he was accustomed to abnormal things, but Artemis still creeped him out. How he knew his name, he didn't know. But he knew time was of the essence, and he decided not to ask him. He wouldn't get an answer anyway.

"How so?" Hazel asked.

"You are the daughter and son of the Underworld. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

Hazel glanced at Nico, and he twiddled with the hilt of his sword.

Percy sighed. "Can you tell us what we've been waiting to know? What happened at Mt. Tamalpais?"

The corner of Artemis's lip twitched. "You were there, weren't you?"

"Yeah." Percy said, confused.

"They sky fell."

"I knew that. But I want to know why we had to make the sky fall!"

Artemis said nothing, just placed his hand on the table and steepled his fingers. He stared across at the burner in the middle, and he reached his hand into his jacket and amazed them all by producing a drachma.

Reyna gasped. "How did you-"

"Watch."

Artemis poured water at an angel onto the burner, and it created steam which lifted into the air and filtered light through. The light created an array of colors, making a small rainbow appear to float in the air. Artemis tossed the coin in and asked for Mt. Tamalpais. The steam shifted, and the view zoomed in to show what he had requested.

The mountain was in ruins. Even more ruins than before. All the rocks were crushed, and there didn't seem to be a boulder the size of Percy's fist on the mountain. The Garden of the Hesperides with missing, along with Ladon the dragon protector and the golden apple tree. There was not a jot of life in the area, but amazingly enough, San Francisco seemed unharmed by the falling of the sky.

There was a giant white line where the sky met the earth. It was tall enough to swallow the Big House whole, and long enough to encompass all of the mountain.

From the white line was a raging storm of electricity. From the electricity emerged Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, the Hundred-Handed Ones. They had no clothes on, but they didn't seem to care. Percy watched in amazement as the monsters studied themselves, then they raised their arms and surged toward the sky. They grew and they grew, until they were about the size of a ten-story building.

Ouranos and Gaea were mating. They were producing children, and their children would be their downfall. For the first time in thousands of years, the sky touched the earth, and the world was happy.

Everyone except the demigods, that is. They were grim. They watched the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires until a female voice said, "Please deposit one drachma for five more minutes."

They watched them as the rainbow slowly dissolved, and the steam cleared away. Percy faintly saw a small Hundred-Handed One sprout arms, come out of the white electricity, and step into the night air. He raised all one-hundred arms and grew. Then the image faded away, and they were left staring at the Bunsen Burner.

Finally, Octavius gulped. "That? That was your plan?" He seemed scared, but he stared at Artemis. "To bring forth more monsters? THAT was your plan?!"

Artemis stared across the table. Then he took his shades off, so Octavius could see his eyes clearly.

"Yes, Octavius, that was my plan. And I think it's a good one, too. They have no idea what they're doing yet. They are babies, and they don't yet know the difference of good and evil. If we can get to them first, we just might be able to turn Gaea's own children against her."

Octavius stared, dumbfounded, at Artemis's eyes. They were no longer blue.

Artemis's eye twitched, and he smiled. Slowly, his left eye turned hazel. The other stayed blue.

**Tell me if you approve!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the late update. I had testing this week, and I didn't find time to upload it. Hope you like this chapter.**

The ship Leo had dreamt of his whole life was saving the world.

He loaded the ballistae with ammo, and he loaded his cannons with cannonballs. He attached machine guns and sniper rifles to the side of his ship and loaded up the Hephaestus and Apollo campers, along with some of Athena's.

The night was dark, but it was easy to see all the Gaea-monsters. They were erupting from a giant hole in the ground, and monsters and demigods were attacking them. The never-ending amount of clay dolls was overwhelming, but Leo and the other campers felt confident after hearing Artemis's speech. He had stood outside in front of the Big House and told the Greek and Roman Half-Bloods his plan.

The Romans loved it. It required a lot of attacking and killing. The Greeks loved it for its strategy; even more so when they figured that Artemis had planned it that way: strategy to lure the Greeks in and war to lure the Romans in.

Leo had to admit his plan was great. Parts of it were simple: attack the monsters with all they had. Other parts of it were complicated, like opening up the Earth and destroying it from the inside.

Artemis, Holly, Percy, Atlas, and Annabeth had gone to San Francisco. Nico was tired after shadow-traveling everywhere and anyways, he was needed here. Mrs. O' Leary was fast asleep in the volleyball court.

They had taken Leo's portal to the mountain. He didn't really care what Artemis did with it, only as long as he got it back to him after he was done.

Calypso.

Leo sighed and turned to the nearest Hephaestus camper. "Is everything ready? Are our shield up?"

The camper nodded. "All shields and weapons are ready. Do we have permission to attack?"

Leo looked over the side of the Argo II. They were floating a few hundred yards away from the big hole where the monsters were coming from; it was the perfect distance for their weapon range. When they were on the ground, they didn't have time to retrieve and assemble the catapults to attack the monsters with. So they had used shear strength and muscle to push the monsters back. But now they had the upper hand. They had weapons.

He looked back up at his half-brother, who looked nothing like him, except for the hardened hands. He barely knew him, but they fought together and for the same cause.

"Yes. Attack at my mark."

The Hephaestus boy turned around and shouted to the rest of the campers onboard. "Ready your weapons!"

The sound of clanking metal and weapons being loaded filled the silent night air. Leo turned to Festus, his bronze dragon figurehead that controlled the ship. "Festus, turn the lights on."

Festus made a clacking sound and started whirring. A few second later, the whole ship lit up, the wood glowing in the darkness. The area around the camper's weapons glowed too, so they could see what they were doing better.

After everything was silenced, and they could see their mark easily, Leo yelled, "On my mark!" Ballistae stretched and fire was lit on the end of the cannon baller's rods. "Get set!" Machine guns whirred and sniper lasers were pointed at the area of monsters. "Fire!"

Leo quickly covered his ears with his hands, and everything around him exploded. The cannons and ballistae fired first, and while they were reloading the machine guns took their place. The snipers took out the farthest monsters deep underground, shattering them five at a time.

Once the cannons and ballistae were loaded, he called for them to fire. "Cannons aim for the ground! Ballistae aim for the heads!" He waited a few more seconds, studying the field. "On my mark! Fire!"

The machine guns and snipers stopped firing, and the cannons and ballistae started shooting celestial cannonballs and giant arrows tipped with celestial bronze heads. The cannons and ballistae did the most damage because of their size, but it took longer for them to reload than it did for the gunners.

Once the visible ground was clear of the Gaea-monsters, Leo spotted two figures emerging from the darkness. One had a sword as black as death and the other held a long calvary sword. They ran as fast as they could to the edge of the hole and steadied themselves. They looked at each other, and Leo thought he saw a smile form on both of their lips. Then they jumped straight down.

Leo waited. He watched the ground beneath him for any signs that the hole was disappearing. After a few moments, the earth started to tremble. Some Gaea-monsters tried to climb out, but were crushed by rocks and dirt. The hole was collapsing.

And then the roof of the hole collapsed inwards, and the surrounding earth around it was fed into the giant hole of a mouth.

Leo watched the ground for a few more seconds, panic starting to rise in his throat. The earth was flattened, but where was Hazel and Nico?

And then Leo heard a familiar _WHOOSH!_, like a small whisper. He heard two bodies topple to the deck of the Argo II, and he turned around, a smile on his face.

"You did it!" he whooped! "You killed them all!"

Nico grumbled something inaudible, and pushed himself out from under Hazel. He rolled weakly for a few feet, then put his arm behind his head.

"I've done too much today," he yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight." He turned over and started to snore.

Hazel stumbled to her feet and brushed the dirt from her clothes. She wiped her blade with a cloth she kept in her back pocket and tucked it in her belt. She looked up to Leo and said, "He's done a lot. Even with his scepter, he's shadow-traveled and fought more than he's ever had to. Now that the Gaea-monsters are gone, the earth is more vulnerable and it will be easier for him to summon the undead. But he'll need a few hours of rest."

Leo nodded and pointed at the collapsed hole. "What'd you do in there?"

Hazel sighed and leaned up against the mast of the ship. She watched as two Athena campers propped a pillow under Nico's head and threw a blanket over him. She turned her head to the sky and stared up at the stars. "All we did was use our powers, Leo. It wasn't anything much."

"But what did you do?" Leo asked, suddenly interested. He slid down the railing of the Argo II and sat opposite Hazel.

"We caused an even bigger hole under that one that went straight to Tartarus."

Leo stared at her in awe, and his fingers started tap-dancing their way across his lap. "Wow." he said.

"Yeah."

They sat in companionable silence for a minute until Leo said, "So...you just sucked up a hole."

Hazel smiled and relaxed her shoulders. "Yeah. That's basically what we did." She leaned her head back against the mast and closed her eyes. "We should probably contact Artemis and tell him what we did."

Leo nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "Ok. I'll go do it." He got up and headed below deck.

He stopped by an Apollo camper, who was walking across deck to help with disassembling the guns. Leo stopped him and motioned toward Hazel. "Hey, could you get her something to eat? Maybe some nectar and ambrosia, too?"

The Apollo camper nodded. "Sure thing, Leo. Anything you want." He turned to the culinary part of the deck, where kitchen with ever-filling plates of food were, and some nectar and ambrosia were stored.

Leo continued to below deck, where he kept a steamer and a lamp just for this occasion. He stopped to unlock one of the doors and slipped inside, leaving the lights out.

He tripped a few times, but he managed to make his way to the small table that held his supplies. He fumbled for the switch on the lamp, and he turned it on. He searched for the battery-powered steamer and filled it with water from a jug on the floor.

Leo sprayed the steam in front of the lamp and turned until he found the perfect angle. He focused the steam in front of the wall, which was shiny, just for this purpose.

He turned the light up on the lamp until he saw a perfect rainbow, then fished a drachma out of his toolbelt. He tossed it into the rainbow and asked for Artemis in San Francisco. The image shifted until he saw Artemis, amazingly, keeping eye on his watch.

"Artemis!" Leo shouted. Artemis turned his head, and when he spotted Leo, he smiled.

"Ah, Leo. I take it everything is going well?" He adjusted his tie and smoothed out his suit. Leo heard a female voice coming from Artemis's side of the connection, and Holly appeared in front of the screen.

"Hey, Leo!" she said. She looked excited about something, so Leo thought that must be good.

"Hey, Holly," he said back. He flicked his eyes to Artemis. "Yeah, actually, we sent the crater to, uh...Tartarus."

Artemis looked confused for the merest fraction of a second, and then a smile formed on his face. "So the Gaea-monsters are taken care of?"

Leo nodded his head, and Artemis smiled even wider. Leo noticed that his sunglasses weren't on, and he could see Artemis's mismatched eyes clearly.

Artemis nodded back to him and straightened out the cuff of his sleeve. "Well, they were the least of our problems. But that's okay! I got the rest."

Leo decided not to question Artemis and said he would see him later.

"Bye, Leo!" Holly yelled, right before he cut the connection.

Artemis chuckled to himself quietly. What a day. This morning he had woken up in his hotel room and discovered that Holly had been kidnapped. He also proved the existence of demigods, convinced all the faries of Haven to go through a mysterious portal and fight for them. Not to mention, he was now in charge of all the fighting races: demigods, monsters, faries, goblins, and dwarves.

And now here he was. Heading for the biggest monsters ever created. And he was laughing.

Something had clicked in his brain. He now understood everything. Gaea's plan to rule the world was a simple one: attack the demigods and kill the gods and raise the Titans and let Gaea come to power. But that wasn't the only thing he understood. A three-hundred I.Q. brain tends to think things over and over and over until it gets a compatible solution. And, after many weeks of thinking it over, he finally understood everything. Death was nothing. Life was...nothing. Nothing was everything

Holly was giggling with excitement because she had seen Artemis's expression. It was pure joy mixed with pure calmness, and she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of happiness at looking at his face.

And now Artemis understood everything.

The cyclops tapped him on the shoulder with one meaty hand. "Art-him-is, when we attack?"

Artemis turned to face Tyson, Percy's brother. "We're not attacking now, Tyson. Not anymore." Ella, who was perched on Tyson's shoulder, tilted her head to the side.

"Why not, Arty?"

Holly couldn't help but form a scowl on her face.

"Because, Ella, we don't need to attack. No problems can be solved by attacking."

Holly mimicked the harpy by tilting her head at Artemis. The Mud Boy had certainly changed. "Artemis, if we're not going to attack them, what are we going to do?"

"Make peace with them, of course. What else?"

"But-" Holly looked at the crumbling remains of Mt. Tamalpais. The giant Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires were slowly making their way down. There was no way they could get there in time. The portal had to cool down first.

"But what?" Artemis asked patiently.

"How do we get there in time? If we don't hurry, they might become evil and destroy San Fran!"

Artemis turned to Atlas and Percy and Annabeth, who were standing behind him, watching them with idle confusion. \

"Yeah?" Percy said.

"I've heard you were a fast runner."

Annabeth stifled a laugh. "Percy? He's the worst! He can't even beat an Aphrodite girl!"

"Is this true, Percy?" Artemis asked.

Percy bent his head and looked at the ground. "I'm not the best." Then he lifted his head and said, "Anyways, even if I was fast, I wouldn't be able to make it." He motioned toward the mountain with his shoulder, his eyes still on the ground.

Annabeth stopped smiling. "Percy, is there something you're not telling me?" When he didn't answer Annabeth gently put her hand under Percy's chin and lifted his head up. "Percy?"

Percy met her eyes and said, "Yeah. There is." There was no sound except for Atlas and Tyson's heavy breathing. He continued. "Remember that time in Tartarus when we had our eyes closed, and I told you to get on my back?"

Annabeth nodded slowly. She remembered, all right.

"And remember that I told you that the chasm across the river was over twenty feet?" She nodded her head again, more quickly this time.

"Yes, and you managed to jump it. With your eyes closed, and with me on your back."

"Yeah."

There was silence. And then: "How did you do it, Percy?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I drew power from the river."

"But you weren't in it! How did you get power from it if you weren't in it?"

"I learned to control my powers better."

Annabeth looked at him questioningly, starting to understand what he was saying. "You mean that as long as there is a water source nearby, you have energy?"

He nodded, and Annabeth broke into a grin. Percy looked at her confusedly. "What's the matter?"

"That's it?" she said. "That's all that you didn't tell me?" He nodded slowly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier-"

"But this is great, Percy! I thought you were going to tell me something bad, like you were going to die in three days..."

Percy gulped and looked at Artemis. "Yeah. Does that answer your question?"

Artemis nodded his head toward the mountain, hands clasped behind his back. "So you can run there and back quickly?"

Percy studied the distance from the giant mountain of rubble to where they were standing now. It was a few miles. The Golden Gate towered over their heads, and a car honked at Atlas.

"I think so."

"Okay," Artemis said. "I want you, Ella, Tyson, and Atlas to get to the mountain as fast as you can. Tyson-" he turned to the cyclops, who was passing Ella a jar of peanut butter. "You grew in the Titan Battle. Can you do it again?"

Tyson looked up from his jar and said through a mouthful of peanut butter, "Daddy let me that time. I don't know if I can do it again."

"Do you think he would help you if you asked him?"

Tyson shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. Maybe. Daddy might be too busy..."

Artemis turned to the water of the San Francisco Bay Area. "It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

Tyson and Ella had found them in the woods, getting ready to open another portal. They had asked if they could join, and Artemis had immediately said yes. He had been counting on them to be there, and he needed their help.

"Wait, wait, wait." Atlas interrupted. "Who says I'm doing anything?" He peered down at Artemis. "I never said I would help you."

"We fed you," Artemis said. "We gave you clothes that were extremely hard to find. We got you out from under the sky." Atlas looked down at his shirt, and Artemis continued. "And anyway, I don't think you came back to the mountain just to see your old home crumble. I think you came to help."

Atlas grumbled something unintelligible, and Tyson looked up with a smile on his face. He had the best hearing out of them all.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Artemis said. "I thought I hear you say something."

"I'll help!" Atlas said, raising his voice. "My mom's a jerk, and I would hate to see her ruling the world."

"Very well, Atlas. You will accompany Tyson, Percy, and Ella on their journey."

Tyson hefted his club, as if ready to leave. "When do we go?"

"First, Tyson, ask Poseidon if he will make you...bigger. Ask him to make you as tall as the other cyclopes." He nodded to the water. "Go ahead."

Tyson glanced at Artemis, unsure of himself. Then he stepped up to the water and spoke a few words. At first, nothing happened. Then the ground shook, and small tidal waves lapped against the shore. Tyson started to grow; his large feet got even larger; his meaty hands got meatier; his broad back got broader. Ella squawked and flew off his shoulder.

Tyson grew until he towered over Atlas, and continued to grow until he was easily taller than the Big House was. His clothes and club grew with him, and he stared down at them from the sky. "Hey," he said, "why'd you all shrink?"

Ella squawked uncertainly from the ground, then decided that Tyson looked even better bigger, and flew up to his shoulder so she was perched near his ear. "Tyson!" she yelled. "We're not small, you're just big!"

Tyson looked around and compared himself to the Golden Gates. The top seemed closer than before, and he shuffled his feet, trying to get a better view of the mountain.

"I can see the Cyclopes and...Hundred-Handed Ones! Percy, there's Hundred-Handed ones!" Tyson clapped his hands, and the Golden Gates shook. "Briares will be happy!"

Ella squawked something in his ear, and his eyes lit up. He reached down in his pocket and withdrew a giant jar of Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter. He reached into his other pocket and found a giant spoon there. Ella gave a long squawk of excitement, and dived down to the jar, which he placed on the ground.

"Tyson!" Percy called up. "Are you okay?"

Tyson squatted down so he could see them better. "Yes, brother! I am okay!"

"Good!" Percy yelled. "Do you think you can make it to the mountain now?"

Tyson didn't even have to think about it. "Yes, I can make it brother. I can crush any mountain now, like the Hundred-Handed ones!"

Artemis raised his voice so he could be heard over Tyson's loud, slow breathing. "Tyson! Can you carry Annabeth with you? I'm sure she would want to come!" Annabeth said that yes indeed, she wanted to come, and Tyson lifted her to his shoulder.

"I will take the pretty girl to the mountain!"

Annabeth smiled, and Ella squawked indignantly.

"And the pretty harpy." Ella smiled too, and snuggled up close to Tyson's shoulder.

"Okay!" Artemis shouted to everyone in the group. Tyson tried to hold his breath, but that just made him dizzy. "Get ready to run!" Percy closed his eyes and concentrated, and Atlas rolled his shoulders. Tyson set his right leg in front of him and picked up the jar of peanut butter. "Go!"

Atlas, Percy, and Tyson all took off for the mountain. Percy was the fastest, running nearly sixty an hour. Atlas kept pace with Percy, and Tyson stayed closely behind, so as to not make them fall over when he took a giant step. His club swayed every time he moved, and he kept it still with his hand. In an instant, they were all out of sight, except Tyson, who's head bounced over the midnight traffic.

Artemis watched them leave, and Holly tugged on his sleeve. "Artemis, why couldn't I go? I have wings. I could make it just as fast as they can."

He kept his eyes trained on the mountain and watched a group Hekatonkheires jump off the mountain. The white lightning from the top of the mountain turned to an earthly green mixed with a sky blue, and then faded, though Artemis knew it was still there.

"Because, Holly, I need you with me."

"What for?"

"We need to get to Olympus. And quickly."

Holly loved the ride to Olympus. Artemis did not.

The portal had gone through a lot of trauma today, and he did not want to take the risk of going through it while it was still cooling down. So he strapped an anti-gravity belt to his waist and told Holly to hurry up with it, they didn't have all day.

She had laughed merrily, but Artemis didn't see what was so funny about their situation. She said nothing was funny about it and draped camfoil over him and attached a cord to his belt. She started up her wings and soared as high as she dared without killing the Mud Boy.

They traveled over the states quickly, and Artemis struggled to breathe. Holly was nearly at airplane height. Even though she had smaller lungs than him, she had been trained to go as high as possible. He wasn't used to it, though, and every few minutes he tugged on the cord to make Holly drop a little lower so he could get air, then she would soar back up for another few minutes and the process would repeat.

Artemis eventually got used to the high altitude and stopped tugging on the cord. He couldn't see much because of the camfoil, but he felt Holly's boot hit him in the face.

"Hey, Mud Boy. Where is this place at? You just said to head for Manhattan. Surely the gods don't live in New York?" She peered down at the blurry camouflaged object beneath her. "You still there, Arty?"

He cleared his throat and moved back the camfoil so it would look like a head was floating in midair. He couldn't see her because she was cloaking herself, so he put his sunglasses back on.

"Yes, I am still here, Holly. And yes, the gods are in New York."

Holly decided not to ask him any more questions about the gods anymore. He must have told her all about it on the jet to New York, but she had fallen asleep. She couldn't help asking something else, though.

"Artemis, what happened to your eyes?"

She figured Artemis wouldn't answer, but to her surprise, he said, "I got smarter."

Holly blinked, then burst out laughing. "There's no way you got smarter, Artemis. You can't get any smarter than you already are." She gave him a wide grin. She knew he could see her behind his sunglasses created from stolen fairy technology.

"Ok, you may be right. But I think I got somehow wiser, if not smarter."

Holly was silent for a while, trying to decide if he was being serious. The Mud Boy hardly ever joked. He was always serious.

Holly peered down at his face. She removed his sunglasses so she could see his eyes, and Artemis squinted back up at her. "I thought you lost your hazel one when you died?"

"Sometimes, Holly," he said, "it's not about the physical attributes of a person that change them. It's about the personalities of the people around them."

They arrived in front of the Empire State Building in record time, an hour later. Holly glided across the night traffic with ease and settled in front of the doors. She unstrapped Artemis and took the camfoil off. She closed her wings and turned to help him, but he was already standing, dusting off his suit, staring at city around them.

"So this is where the battle took place," he said, looking around. He pointed to a large crack in the ground a few meters away. "That's where Hades summoned..." he trailed off, studying the city. Then he jerked his head to the side and said, "Let's go. We haven't got time to waste."

Holly watched him in amusement, her arms crossed. "This is where Olympus is? In the Empire State Building?" Artemis nodded and motioned to the doors, craning his neck to see the top of the building.

"And that's where it turned blue..."

Holly slapped his rear end and pushed him to the door. "Let's go! We haven't got time to waste, remember?"

Artemis barely glanced at her, but nodded his head and held the door open for her. He continued to watch the city, then stepped inside himself.

The man at the desk looked up from his book. He noticed Artemis's suit and held up his finger. He took up a bookmark from beside a mug of coffee and closed the book.

"How may I help you?"

Artemis wanted to save as much gold as he could, including his drachmas and denarii. He had stacks of them, but he didn't want to waste it on this man.

"Don't you think it's a little late for us to be here, sir?"

The man studied them suspiciously, then said, "Yes, I do. What are you doing here, anyways?"

Artemis walked up to the desk and said, "I would like the key to the six-hundredth floor, please."

"There is no six-hundredth floor."

"You really, don't want to mess with me right now, sir."

The man watched him for a couple of seconds, then motioned toward Holly. "Who's the little girl?"

"Excuse me!" Holly said indignantly. "I am not a girl!" She jumped and managed to catch the edge of the desk with her fingertips. She pulled herself on top easily.

"I am a-"

"What she's trying to say is that she's a midget."

Holly punched him, and he fell.

"Give me the key. Now."

The man blinked and handed her the key. "Take any metal off when passing through the metal detector-"

"Yeah. Thanks." She trudged over to Artemis and kicked him in the leg. He managed to get up, though, seemingly without injuries. "Let's go, Mud Boy."

She walked to the metal detector and turned her Neutrino on stun. She shot the metal detectors, and static could be heard from them. She walked up to the elevator and pressed the button that would bring the car down.

Holly waited while Artemis dusted off his suit patiently. The elevator dinged, and they stepped inside. The doors closed, and Holly inserted the key. A button with the number 600 appeared, and she glanced at Artemis. He nodded his head, and she was just about to press it, when hair flew over the front of her face from a blast of wind from behind her.

Holly whipped around to face Artemis, but saw him smiling, his mismatched eyes twinkling in the dim light.

She heard a thump behind her, and she turned back around quickly to the panel on the wall.

Facing her was a smelly, greasy little man with a beard down to his chest. His fingernails were long and caked with mud, and his teeth protruded out of his mouth.

"You require my assistance, Mud Boy?" asked Mulch.

**I'll fix all my mistakes as soon as I can. In the first few chapters I was really bad with "Artemis's" and "Artemis'." I'll fix those as quick as I can.**

**I'm also sorry for the stroy being so slow. I'll try and make it more fast-paced in the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sooooooo sorry for not updating a lot. With the holidays and everything... Well, I can't figure out how to edit a chapter on Fanfiction. Anybody got any help?**

The dwarf laughed his filthy little head off. Then Holly got tired of hearing him and punched the button marked 600.

They shot toward the sky at the speed of light. Holly slammed against the floor, while Artemis held on to the railing and Mulch simply stuck to the wall with his thirsty pores, acting like miniature suction cups.

They came to a sudden stop, and their heads all jerked down. Holly layed on the elevator floor for a few seconds, then pushed herself up and pressed the button to open the door.

The door slowly retracted itself into the elevator wall, and Holly stared at what was in front of her in awe. Palaces lined a giant island that seemed to be made of gold, and green fire burned everywhere. The hunk of land suspended in the clouds connected with the elevator by a bridge. The bridge was lined in gold and made of pure ivory. The streets were made of solid gold bricks. It was enough to make Artemis choke and Mulch's eyes to coat over with lust.

Faries were attracted to gold. Especially fairy gold. But Holly sensed that this was no fairy gold; indeed, it was far better. Everything on the giant island, it seemed, had nothing on it that was worth less than fairy gold.

And then Holly stepped out of the elevator and realized that this was no island: it was a mountain. Holly felt shivers go down her back and a spark of magic go off as she realized that this was Mount Olympus.

She walked slowly across the bridge, never taking her eyes off of the palaces. They seemed to glow with pure beauty, drawing her closer and closer within their gravity. She stopped at the edge of the bridge and shook it off. She looked around and was surprised to see Artemis right behind her, looking at the same thing.

Since she had known Artemis, she had never heard him say anything that expressed his awe. But now he did.

"Wow."

Mulch never took his eyes away from the mountain. "What are we waiting for? A whole mountain made of gold! A dwarf's dream! Let's go!" He raced past Holly, but was thrown back by an invisible force. He landed at Artemis's toes. "Ouch."

"What was that?" Holly asked.

"Go slowly," Artemis said. "It doesn't know what you are yet. It's trying to determine if you're allowed to pass."

"What is?" Holly asked.

"The spirit of Olympus."

Mulch started again, but this time went slower. To his surprise, he made it through, but it felt like he was coated in syrup. When he reached past two statues, he collapsed on the floor in a heap.

"Phew! I didn't think I was going to make it!"

"Your turn, Holly."

Holly looked into his face. There were no emotions there, just determination. She had felt this before from him. It was only when he was thinking about an extremely difficult plan that he looked this way.

And then his face turned peaceful and he motioned with his hand. "Go, Holly. I'll meet you on the other side."

Holly held eyes with him for a second longer, then slowly inched her way through the invisible barrier and reached the two statues. She stopped where Mulch was and stood beside him. Would Artemis make it? She knew from what he had said on the jet, when she was half asleep, that only demigods and gods could make it to Olympus. He had said that faries might be able to, too, because they had grown with the gods, and that they didn't apply to their rules.

She watched as Artemis stepped over the edge of the bridge, the carefully walked across to where she stood. He stopped beside her and looked down.

"See?"

Suddenly, they heard a large crack and a lot of voices yelling. A loud, low voice was heard above them all.

"Artemis! Holly! Quick! Get inside!"

Holly turned to see Butler waving an over-sized sword above his head. He motioned into a large building behind them, pointing to the palaces off in the distance. They crumbled and fell, and out of the earth rose a giant temple.

"Hurry!"

Holly ran as fast as her legs would carry her, Mulch beside her, panting heavily. But they couldn't go fast enough. The ground shook under them and toppled their small frames over.

Holly landed on the ground, Mulch landing right beside her a second later. She figured, in a daze, that Mulch was accustomed to large cave-ins, and if he couldn't stand this one, they were in for some trouble.

And then she felt a hand under her shoulder, helping her up. She felt someone lift her over their shoulder, and then she felt the person reach down and pick up Mulch, doing likewise to him. And then she felt the person run, faster and faster, until it seemed as if her skin was going to fly off. And then the person came to a slow stop, and she was lifted down onto the ground against a wall, and Mulch was set on the ground.

Holly had never felt an earthquake before. She wasn't used to them. Faries hardly ever stayed on the ground, and if they did it was only for a short while, because they either flew or stayed under the surface, where they were safe from natural disasters. Nature always loved the faries, and nature always took care of them. Why should it rebel now?

She heard Artemis talking to Butler, and she heard other voices, too. Hundreds of them, all looking at her in concern. Then she felt Artemis lean down beside her, and she heard Mulch's muffled voice saying something to a woman.

"Hey, Holly," Artemis said. He cradled her head in his arms. "You need some rest. We'll wake you up when we need you."

"How bad is it, Artemis?" she asked. She looked up at his face. Amazingly, the only thing she saw in there was compassion.

"You ran out of magic, Holly. We're trying to fix you up, but there aren't any rivers here, and there aren't any acorns."

"What about my extra-"

"No. We couldn't find it. You must have lost it. Do you understand?"

Holly nodded her head. She understood.

"We're waiting for N01 to come. He should arrive here in a few minutes. In the meantime, you should try and rest. You need to conserve your energy. I'll wake you when we're ready."

Holly was about to ask what they would be ready for, but her eyelids were already drooping. She felt fatigue come over her, and she fell asleep.

It was easier than Percy thought to convince the monsters to join their side. As soon as they saw Tyson ahead of them, they coked their heads and stopped. He was about their size, and he had clothes on. They were curious.

Tyson told them that he knew where a fight was, and where they could find weapons. He also told them he knew a place where they could have as much food as they wanted, and that if they followed him, they could have all these things.

The monsters grunted in ecstatic agreement and followed Tyson to the edge of the water of the San Francisco Bay Area. They watched as Tyson dipped his toe in the water, then stepped all the way in. They did likewise.

Percy thought it must have been odd to see hundreds of monsters fifty feet tall jumping into the ocean, but he figured the Mist would cover it up. It always did.

Annabeth said something in Tyson's ear, and he stopped and let her and Ella down. They slid down his arm and dropped next to Percy, and Tyson continued to lead the monsters into the water.

"Apparently Artemis thought it would take a lot more convincing than just Tyson bribing them with food," Annabeth said.

"How does Ella get across?" Ella asked.

"I'll take you guys with me."

"How?" Annabeth asked. "You can't summon a motorboat, can you?"

Percy seemed to be thinking about it, so she punched his arm. "I think I could just take you both to the bottom of the ocean and-"

"Percy! Can't you just like...do that thing with the air bubbles and swim us there?"

"Yeah, but that seems like too much work..."

"You just ran sixty miles an hour and your not even out of breath! How is taking us to Manhattan underwater too much work?"

"I guess if you put it that way, I could swim you both." Percy said.

"Not Ella." Ella said. "Ella will fly." She took off with her wings extended and soared into the night sky until they couldn't see her anymore.

"Won't she get tired?"

"She's a harpy," Annabeth said. "Monsters don't get tired as quickly as humans do."

"Hmm," Percy said. "I'm thinking. How am I supposed to get you across, if there's nothing but land in our way?"

"Couldn't you swim around the states?"

"Yeah, but that would take too much time. We wouldn't get there for at least a day, and by that time I would have already fallen asleep in the water."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know. Let me think for a minute." He sat down on a rock not far away from the edge of the ocean. "We can't use the portal, and we can't shadow-travel, and we can't swim."

Annabeth sat down beside him. "Let's reast a few minutes before we do anything big. We've done a lot today, and we have a lot more to do. Besides, I'm sure you're tired."

"Hrmph."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the dark waves lap the shore.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, colors flashed in front of Percy and Annabeth. It looked much like the portal Leo had made, but it was tinted with red. They heard a loud groan, like a zombie, and the a _pop!_

"D'Arvit! Stupid space-zombies!" A short humanoid figure with horns on his heads and a cloak wrapped around his body fell out of the redness and landed in the sand, face first. He got up and brushed the sand off of his body. He stuck out his hand toward Percy and Annabeth. "Hello! I'm N01!"

Percy wasn't surprised at all. Instead of panicking, he watched in awe as he held out his hand and shook with the creature. His skin was red, much like the portal, and he had seven fingers. He looked about the same height as Coach Hedge: five-foot zero. He had a smile full of sharp teeth, but also full of laughter.

Annabeth, though, was surprised. "Ahh! Demon!" She yanked out her drakon-bone sword from her belt and quick as lightning, slashed at him.

The sword simply bounced off his skin, though, as if he had tough armor covering his body. The sword floated up out of her hand and reinserted itself in her belt.

He cocked his head at her and studied her. Then a big smile crossed his face. "Hello! You must be Annabeth! Pleased to meet you! I'm N01!" He stuck out his hand, and she shook tentatively.

"Hello, N01," Percy said. "Are you help from Artemis?"

N01 nodded his head eagerly. "Oh, yes. Artemis told me to come here to take you to Olympus. He is there right now, I think."

He pointed his hand to the ocean, and a portal formed. "Artemis told me to heal you of any wounds you may have, and to also take away your fatigue. Do you wish me to do so?"

Percy didn't have to think about it. "Yeah. Sure. Do you have anything to eat?"

"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. "He could be a monster setting us up for a trap! We can't go with him. He might kill us!"

"I will not kill you, and I am not a monster. Unless you call a demon a monster..." N01 trailed off when he saw Annabeth's face go rigid. "What?"

"You're a demon?"

"Um...yeah. Is that bad?"

"See, Percy? He even admits to being a monster! Let's go!" She tugged on his arm, but he stayed where he was and stood up.

"Ok, N01, if you are what you say you are, take away my fatigue. I haven't in a day."

N01 watched him carefully, then said, "Okay. I will do as you say. But we really must hurry. Olympus is in trouble." Percy nodded his head, and N01 said, "Here goes." He raised his hand, and quick as that, Percy felt better already.

"That it?" N01 nodded his head, and Percy smiled. "Thanks, N01. You have a nice name, by the way." N01 smiled back and turned to Annabeth.

"Do you need any healing, Annabeth?"

Annabeth glared at him suspiciously and looked at Percy.

"I didn't die, Annabeth. We can't last all night without any sleep, anyways. Just get it over with and we'll be at Olympus."

She sighed, then told N01 to hurry up with it. He did the same thing to her as he did to Percy, but he also did something different, too. Annabeth stopped feeling tired immediately, and she felt her skin crawl as her wounds healed.

This satisfied Annabeth, and she said to N01, "Before we go, I want to know what kind of demon you are. Are you from Tartarus? From Hades?"

N01 shook his head and smiled. "No. Just from a little island off in some other dimension." He looked over his shoulder at the portal. "Come on. Artemis needs you two back at Olympus."

Percy shrugged his shoulder and stepped through the portal.

Annabeth admired Percy's bravery, but she thought it also might be recklessness. She sighed. "You go first. I want to see that this isn't a trap."

N01 raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Okay, but I can only make the portal last for a few seconds if I'm not here. So as soon as I leave, jump in after me, okay?"

She nodded, and without a second thought, N01 jumped in after Percy.

Annabeth looked back one more time at the crumbling remains of Mt. Tamalpais, and looked in the distance where she knew her family lived. Then she jumped in the portal, and the redness closed around her.

Percy found himself in the middle of the gods' throne room, surrounded with hundreds, if not thousands, of demigods, monsters, faries and the like. He landed on his feet and adjusted himself to the light and the smell.

N01 landed behind him, and a second later pulled Annabeth out.

Butler ran up to meet them. "N01! Artemis needs you quick! It's an emergency!"

N01's spine jerked upright and he swiveled his head from side to side. "Where is he?"

"Follow me!" the manservant panted. "It's Holly!"

N01's eyes turned an even deeper shade of red, and he seemed to grow taller. He flickered for an instant, and Butler caught his arm and pressed a silver bracelet that was falling off back against his skin.

"Whoa, there. We don't need you leaving."

N01 nodded his head, then started running through the large crowd. "Where is she?"

"Over here." When N01 didn't spot anything, Butler shouted, "Move!" and a large gap appeared. They raced through it, Percy and Annabeth close behind.

N01 spotted the top of Artemis's head bobbing, and he stopped beside the Mud Boy. "How is she?"

"N01! You're here." Artemis looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and N01 noticed that his eyes had changed back. "She's not doing too well. She's out of magic, and she's broken twelve bones. She's ripped five tendons also, and I think she's bleeding internally."

"Did you tell her to sleep?"

"Yes."

Percy wondered that if she had gotten hurt so much, shouldn't she be trying to stay awake? He asked Artemis, and he told him that it was the opposite for faries, that going to sleep made them have a better chance of not slipping into a coma.

Percy didn't get his logic, but a girl came up to him and asked if she could get anything for him to eat. She had blond hair, and she looked to be in her twenties. Percy automatically knew that she was an intense fighter, judging by the ring knotted in her hair and the size of her fists and body.

Percy asked her her name, and she said she was Juliet. Percy said that yes, he would take a bite of something, and Annabeth said she would too. He asked where the other five were, and she didn't hesitate to tell him.

She led him and Annabeth to a large pillar, right under the constellation of Zoë. She gave him and Annabeth some food, and they sat down next to the other demigods, who where silently picking at some bread. Nico was propped against the pillar, silently dozing, and Leo was absentmindedly making something out of bits of metal.

Percy ate, then sat against the pillar with Annabeth at his side.

"Hey guys," Percy said. "What's going on out there?"

"We don't know yet," Hazel said, "but I sense a lot of metal collapsing."

Jason was staring up at the throne of his dad. Piper was staring at something in the distance, and Frank was twiddling with one of his arrows.

Suddenly Percy felt a chill go down his back, and he got up. "They're here." He turned to the large gates of the meeting room. "Move back, everybody! They're here!"

"Who's here, Percy? Tyson?" Annabeth got up to join him, and she turned her head from side to side.

"No, Annabeth! Can't you feel it?"

"What?"

"The power of Artemis! I thought you would sense it after meeting her all these time?"

"The power of Artemis? Artemis Fowl?! What do you mean?"

The other demigods got up too. "Sister." Jason breathed.

"Open the gates!" Percy yelled.

Two cyclopes hurriedly pulled the gates open, and Percy and Jason raced out together.

"Whoo-hoo!" Jason yelled. "We're gonna make it!"

Jason and Percy raced each other out of the throne room and the edge of the bridge. They waited, then they felt it again and they raced forward.

The elevator dinged, and a group of girl got out. "Stupid music," one of them muttered.

Jason ran forward and hugged Thalia. "Where were you! We've been holding back at Camp-"

"Yeah, I know," she said into his hair. She motioned for the huntresses to move forward. She pulled back from Jason. "Sorry I'm late, Percy!" she called out. "Just...had to take care of some things!"

Percy smiled and embraced Thalia. "What took you so long?"

Thalia glanced back at the huntresses, then said quietly, "I'll tell you later, Percy. Right now, we need to save Olympus."

Percy looked where she was pointing and noticed for the first time what he had run through. While he wasn't paying attention, he had leapt over both of the toppled statues that guarded Mount Olympus, fell off a ten-foot mountain of rubble, and flew across the broken bridge.

"What the-"

"I flew you," Jason said. "You weren't looking down."

Percy ignored his recklessness and smiled again. "But you're here, Thalia! You can help!"

"Yeah, but we don't have much time. The sacrifices-"

Percy's eyes grew big. "Oh no-"

"Run!" Thalia hissed. "I'll meet you there!"

Percy jumped over the giant gap that separated Olympus from the mortal world and ran faster than he ever had before. He didn't need a water source this time. He just used what was left in him.

He spotted a temple in the distance, and he came to a stop. He had never noticed that temple before. It was the size of a giant factory, but it had a dome-shaped top. It was made of pure earth and dirt, held together by stone columns.

Percy gritted his teeth and started running again.

Artemis paced impatiently in front of the small alcove. The fire in the hearth burned at a slow, steady rate. Everyone gave him room. No one wanted to get in his way when he was upset.

N01 was attending Holly. He said that it would be harder to mend her because someone else had used magic on her, magic he had never felt before. He said it would take him awhile to get used to the magic, but over time, she would be healed.

Artemis knew that two of the half-bloods were missing. Not Jason and Percy: he knew where they were. Two other demigods. Two Roman demigods.

But he couldn't go anywhere. Not without Holly.

The group of huntresses that had arrived in the elevator were permitted to enter the throne room by two Byon's cyclopes, and they rushed forward.

A girl with brown hair in braids went to Artemis's side. "Is the fairy okay?" He shook his head and led her quietly to N01, whose hand was hovering above Holly's head, concentrating all his will into making her well.

"She's losing life. If she isn't cured soon, she will die."

The huntress nodded and tossed back her braids. She stepped forward and stood beside N01, studying Holly as she did so.

She went up to Holly and placed her hand on her forehead. "Hello, Holly. My name is Phoebe. I've heard a lot about you. You seem like a very good fighter. I honor that. I am very old, just like you. I think I can heal you, if you will let me."

Nothing happened at first, but slowly, the words came out Holly's mouth, as if she were talking in a dream. "Yes."

Phoebe pointed as the nearest huntress. "Bring me some water and medicine. This might take longer than usual." The huntress went off to fetch the supplies and Phoebe turned back to the fairy. "Now..."

Thalia and Jason soon caught up to Percy at Gaea's temple. They stopped and treaded water at the entrance. After a moment, Jason turned to Percy. "Why aren't we going in?"

Percy pointed at a large engraving of Ancient Greek writing above the entrance to the temple. Jason could only make a few words out, since he was Roman, but he got the jist of what it said.

"We need Leo," Thalia breathed. She had only encountered the son of Hephaestus once before, but she knew he had greater powers than he let on. She glanced at the wolves behind her that always followed the huntresses. "Go get the son of Hephaestus," she said, "and be quick about it."

The wolves dipped their heads and ran off in the direction of the throne room.

"Fire will be the key," Percy read. "The key to what, you think?"

"I think it means only Leo can open the door," Jason said. "Either that or a giant flaming key."

They heard howls in the distance and feet thundering against the rubble of Mount Olympus. They got closer and closer until the wolves stopped right in front of them, the other five demigods on their trail.

"You need me?" Leo panted.

"Yeah. Read this." Percy jerked his head up to the writing above the block of dirt. "We can't get through the entrance, and it says fire will be the key."

"You want me to burn it down?"

"You can try," Percy said, "but I think it means something-"

He stopped talking when Leo lit up his arms. They burned white-hot, and the flames flickered like a group of shivering minnows, ready to fly off if attacked.

Leo thrust his arms in the giant block of solid dirt. Slowly, the dirt melted away until there was nothing but a large brown puddle on the ground.

"Okay. Door's open. What next?"

The other demigods stared at him, then Percy said, "We go in," and he stepped inside the temple.

They went through the many corridors and twisting passages until they came to a stop. It reminded Percy of the Labyrinth, and he shuddered. It was bigger on the inside the the outside.

In front of them stood a wall. On the wall were the words "Bane of a Roman" in Latin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hazel asked. "Bane of a Roman?"

"It's either you, Hazel, or Frank or me," Jason said.

"But how do we know which one of us it is?"

"We'll just have to try one bye one." He stepped forward and reached out his hand.

"Stop!" Percy yelled. His voice echoed throughout the temple. "Wait! It says something else."

They all looked at the engraving closer. On the bottom, they noticed, were the words "But a Greek will tell."

"But a Greek will tell," Percy read. "A Greek will tell what?"

They all turned to Annabeth and looked at her. She seemed deep in thought. "A Greek will tell a Roman."

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"A Greek will tell a Roman what, Annabeth?" Piper said.

"Jason, open this wall," Annabeth said suddenly. "I tell you, as a Greek, to open the wall."

Jason's jaw jumped, and his eyes burned a sharp blue. He reached out his hand a second time, and electricity arced from his fingers. It jumped from his fingertips and ran along the edge of the wall. It made the outline of a giant opening, and the dirt crumbled into dust so thin that it disappeared.

"Ow," Jason said.

Six pairs of eyes darted from Annabeth and back to Jason, unsure of which confused them more.

"Let's go," Thalia finally said. "The next one is probably for you, Percy." She patted him on the back as she went by.

They stepped through the opening and continued walking through the temple. It seemed to be going down, and Percy's ears soon popped. He envied Thalia and Jason, who could stand high altitudes in the sky. But he could stand high altitudes in the water, so he figured it was fair.

They came to a pathway split into three sections. "This way," Hazel immediately said, and they all followed her to the left.

Leo lit fire in his hand so they could see, and he led the group. Suddenly he came to a stop. "Guys," he said, "here's the next one." He threw his fire at the wall, and the inside of the temple lit up.

"Leo! What did you do?" Frank looked around frantically at all the fire, clutching something in his pocket as if his life depended on it.

"What? It's supposed to do that. It's oiled down, see?" He shoved his hand through the fire and touched the wall. He brought his hand back, shiny from oil. "Oiled."

"Guys, look!" Hazel pointed ahead of them. "A giant lake. What do we have to do to get past this one?"

Everyone looked at Percy, and he turned pale. "Oh, no."

"What?" Thalia asked, looking around. "I don't see any writings."

Percy knew exactly what this one required. One of his biggest fears: suffocating in the water.

**Yeah. I just kept on writing. Any helpful tips on how to edit a chapter?**


End file.
